It started with coffee
by mindless-junk-247
Summary: It started with spilt coffee on his shirt. Updated daily - complete
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** It started with spilt coffee on his shirt.

**Characters:** Callen/OC

**Rating:** T for mild swearing (rating may change later on)

**Disclaimer:** The characters are not mine.

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Chapter 1

Today, it was his day to get coffee for him and Sam. A simple black no sugar coffee for himself, a coffee with milk, one sugar and an extra shot of espresso for the bigger man. He never understood why people wanted to make their coffee's more complicated then they needed to be. As he drove along the front line of shops he slowed his car down to a gentle stop across the road from a coffee shop he'd never seen before.

Quirking an eyebrow he took note of the few amount of people inside and shrugged. "What the hell." He checked he had money, that his keys were in his hands and that his car was locked before venturing across the road and into the store.

It was a nice small place that seemed comfortable if he were to stay longer then was necessary to order, pay and leave with the coffees. Small clusters of chairs sat around finely spaced tables with plenty of room to relax.

Inside were a couple groups of school children, both boys and girls, chatting and laughing loudly to each other. A few people in business suits were either on phones, reading papers or busy paying and leaving with paper cups.

The counter where the drinks were made sat at the left hand side and he turned, meaning to head to the cashier when a crash was heard and something smashed into him, spilling hot liquid over him. His hands shot up as he jumped back, giving a manly yelp. "Oh god," a woman muttered.

When he looked up it was to the horrified expression of a petite blonde haired woman with brown eyes. "I am so, so sorry," she said instantly falling to the floor to pick up the two now empty cups. "Really," she carried on, now standing back up to face him. "I am so, so, so sorry."

Callen pulled at his shirt to stop the liquid getting to his skin. He tried to offer her a small laugh, "It's fine. Just an accident. Don't worry about it."

"No, no, no it's not. Come on," she nodded her to the back of the store and he followed her to a sink in the corner. He watched as she wrung a cloth and handed it over to him. "Here."

"Thanks, but seriously, don't worry about it." He was left alone as she was called away by who he assumed was her boss, and told to carry on delivering drinks and collecting empty cups. The manager headed over to him for a few minutes to offer him apologies and complimentary drinks on the house to apologise. "Thank you but it was just an accident. No permanent damage done."

His phone buzzed fifteen minutes later and he pulled it out to hear Sam on the other end, complaining about Callen's supposed lateness. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"Yeah, I woke up in a world where my partner's late with my morning coffee that is long overdue."

"Well maybe you should get more sleep, that way you'd be less cranky."

"I'm not cranky."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

Callen opened his mouth to reply but caught sight of the woman who'd spilt coffee on him standing just a few feet away, trying to look nonchalant. "I'm leaving now." He hung up and handed her the cloth back. When she opened her mouth to apologise, he was certain of it, he held his hand up, "Don't worry about it. I'll just take my coffee and go if that's alright? It was just a freak accident."

"Okay," she said. "What would you like? They're on the house by the way."

"Two coffees, one black, the other with one sugar, to go, thanks." As he waited for her to make his drinks, he couldn't help but rub at his shirt. His light grey shirt was now darker down most of his front, meaning he'd have to change his shirt when he finally got to work.

"Here. Once again, I'm sorry for crashing into you."

He waved her off with a smile as he grabbed the two cups. "It's fine, honestly."

She seemed to accept his and finally offered him a smile, "Well thanks for coming. I do hope you come back again."

Callen nodded as he left. It was when he was stopped at a set of traffic lights that he finally got a chance to have a small sip. He stopped concentrating on the red light for a moment to take another sip. "Huh," he said as a final assumption. That was some damn good coffee.

The light changed to green and when he finally put Sam's coffee down in front of him, the taller man immediately noticed the stained shirt. "Did you have a fight with a coffee machine or something?"

He shrugged, "Something like that." As he walked to the locker room, sipping coffee as he went, he made a mental note to re-visit for another coffee.


	2. Chapter 2

It was five days later, with a receding black eye from a perp, when Callen returned to the coffee store. It was just as busy as the other day and he was careful to watch out for the employees as he walked in. A soft rock song was playing in the air and he paused a moment to listen to the melody. "Oh, hey, you're back."

He turned to the same woman who, previously that week, had stained his shirt. "Yep. Coffee was too nice to resist."

She offered him a bright smile. "Well, unfortunately for you there won't be free coffee today." He watched as she frowned, eyes fixed on his right blue eye. "Ouch, that looks sore."

Instinctively he raised a hand to the bruise. "Ah, it's nothing. It looks worse than it is."

"Okay then. Same as last time?"

Callen paused for a moment as he eyed her up carefully. "You remember what I had?"

"Coffee black and coffee one sugar right? A girl tends to remember the order of someone who they poured coffee over."

He gave her a short laugh. "Fair game, err, just black coffee please."

"You got it, one black coffee coming right up."

She turned away to make the drink and Callen took this moment to pull out his wallet. When she turned back with a paper cup he searched for a name tag but didn't seem to find one. "Thanks Miss…"

"Oh, Weston. Emily. Mr?"

With a smirk he picked up his drink and said, "Tom Henley. It's nice to meet you Emily."

"You too Tom," she said with a soft smile, taking his hand to shake it.

He looked at the clock on the wall and cleared his throat. "Thanks for the coffee," he waved the cup at her and left the shop, a smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

The next time Callen visited the shop he had to stop just inside the door and scanned the room again. It was a lot quieter than other mornings and it took him a moment to adjust to the quietness of it. But he couldn't seem to find Emily. He had no idea why it bothered him but something about seeing a familiar face in a shop was reassuring. With a frown he approached the counter, eyes still searching. "Can I help you?"

He turned to see a guy, a little younger then himself, with lengthy black hair and a semi interested expression. "Erm," he took another glance around the quiet establishment. "Coffee, black. No sugar thanks."

The man took his money and a few moments later a paper cup was produced. "Thanks," Callen said turning to the wide room. He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time and with thirty minutes to go until he started work, he decided to rest his legs and just try to relax some.

He found a table in the corner with a discarded newspaper and decided he could at least read a few pages before he needed to get going.

He was two pages in when the door went and he couldn't help but look up. Emily walked in then and he watched as she deposited a satchel bag behind the counter and her coat soon followed to lay hidden underneath too.

Fifteen minutes later he'd finished his first coffee and thrown the cup in the bin. He was ready to leave but as a last minute decision, decided to buy another one to go. Something made him smile at the sight of Emily behind the counter and not the half miserable guy who'd served him before. "Miss," he said politely to get her attention away from her phone.

It had its intended effect as she quickly stuffed it away and looked up at him with a bright smile. "You again, hey."

"Hi, interesting morning?"

She shrugged one shoulder, "Meh, I've had better mornings."

"I'm sure we all have, but, it is a great day."

A small laugh followed his line from her. "Yeah, well. Some of us unfortunately are stuck indoors."

"How long for?"

"I get off at six."

He winced, "Ouch."

"Yeah," she turned her body to nod at the coffee machine behind her. "Did you want one?"

"Yeah, please." She nodded and he waited the extra minute before handing over ten dollars. "Keep the change," he said with a soft smile catching her eyes.

She seemed stunned by his words as she looked at the change in her hands, "Seriously? No-one says that."

He shrugged his shoulders with a smirk and waved as he left the shop.

It was when Sam walked in fifteen minutes after Callen had gotten there that he realised he was still smiling. "Well someone's having a good morning."

"Huh?"

Kensi was next to comment from across the pen, "Yeah. You've been smiling since you've got here."

"I'm just in a good mood."

"Nope," Deeks commented. "Gotta be reason, let's see… You see, any other guy I would've said it was a girl. But this is Callen. New gun?"

"A gun?" He asked credulously. "A gun would put me in a good mood?"

"Maybe it's a smaller apartment with less space than his current one," Sam said, smirk in place. Callen gave the bigger man a look and a shake of his head before taking a sip from his coffee.

"You're all wrong. I'm just in a good mood."


	4. Chapter 4

Callen stepped inside the shop and couldn't help but do a cursory glance. It was as busy as normal; not that busy, but it held a nice comforting atmosphere. The music this time was of a punk song he was sure had been popular in the charts. He didn't have an ear for music much anyway. When he reached the counter a paper cup sat waiting for him.

With one brow arched and a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth up, he looked at Emily. She held her own matching expression. "Black with no sugar. Your regular."

"Four visits constitutes as being a regular?"

She let her smile break out, "Well, what can I say. We don't get that much business at the moment."

"Hmm," he took a look around the shop. "Well, you don't seem to be doing too bad."

"Meh, it's early in the day."

His blue eyes fixed themselves upon her brown pair for a moment before he took in her green knee length dress. It allowed enough room for her to move and covered everything modestly. "Nice dress."

"Nice shirt," he looked down at his plain navy shirt and shrugged.

"I like to set styles."

"I bet you started a lot of them huh."

"Well," he leaned onto the counter with one arm, a smile on his face all whilst he talked. "Now that you mention it, I have been meaning to ask if you'd model in my next fashion line up. It'll be the next best thing."

That earned a laugh from her and she swatted at his arm. "Please Mr fashion designer." She crossed her arms and leaned her elbows on the counter's surface. "If you were such a fashionist you'd have a more stylised drink then plain black coffee."

He looked at her for a moment. "Fashionist?"

"What?"

"Is that even a word?"

"If it isn't I'm claiming it."

"Not if I beat you to it."

She delivered a mock glare and retrieved an arm to point at him. "Then I claim 50 percent of the royalties."

For a moment, he simply watched her. It felt great to have a conversation that held little to no meaning and feel so relaxed about it. He couldn't help but feel that it wasn't too difficult to talk to Emily. A few more silent moments passed between them before he held his unused hand out to her. "Deal."

She took it and shook his hand with a soft grip. His hands felt as though they dwarfed hers almost double the size. "Deal."

Callen held onto her hand a moment longer than necessary, but pulled it back so that he could pay her for the coffee. "Do you work here every day? Because you're always here when I'm here."

Emily took his money and shrugged her shoulders as she gathered his change. "Sundays. I don't work Sundays. I absolutely refuse to." She handed him his money and with a smile said, "I get stuck with the morning shifts too."

"Right, well, if it's any consolation, I know the feeling. My job is exactly the same." He pocketed the money and grabbed his cup.

Emily placed her elbows on the counter, her head in her hands and leaned forward. "Ooh, do I get to find out where _you_ work now?"

He gave a short laugh and gave her another smile. "Not today." With a wave, he pushed himself off the counter, "Well, see you next time."

"Next time," was what he heard as the door closed behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

He had the intention of going that morning, but a dead body belonging to a Naval Officer had interrupted his plans. When they got off just before six, he'd considered going the next morning, but something pushed him into going now. He decided to walk home that day after Sam had picked him up that morning.

When he arrived at the shop it was to see Emily leaving, coat on and bag being pulled over her shoulder. "Emily."

She turned and a smile spread. He walked a little faster and caught up to her. "Hey. If you want a coffee you might want to get in there quick."

He spared the shop a quick glance before shaking his head. "No, I'm good." He opened his mouth to ask her which way she was going on. If she was going his way there was no point in not having a conversation with someone. But something forced a different question from his mouth; "Do you want to grab a drink with me?"

She stopped in her tracks, one brow raised to look at him. He watched as her chocolate eyes examined his face closely, her thin lips lifted into a questioning smirk. Her blonde hair was up today in a loose ponytail, a few bangs escaping to hang by her round face. "As in a beer drink? You and me?"

He held his own smirk as he shrugged his shoulders. "As friends?"

It was a moment before she nodded her head slowly. "Okay, sure. A drink as friends. Where to?"

A smile grew and he nodded his head behind them. "I know a nice quiet place, not too far from here."

"What are we waiting for then?" she turned on her feet and began to walk. He followed by her side at the same pace. "But, no more than a couple. I have an early shift tomorrow."

He nodded his head. "Of course." It was a five minute walk to the pub he had mentioned and when they were inside he insisted on buying her the first drink. "I promise you can buy the next round."

With scrutinising eyes she nodded, "Okay then. I'll have a beer please."

"One beer coming right up." It was when he was at the bar that he thought about what he was doing. Emily was practically a stranger to him, but he felt comfortable in her presence. As he looked across the bar to where she was sat he noted how sweet she seemed even whilst she was just sat there. He ordered two beers, paid, pocketed the change and moved through the tables until he reached her table.

The night passed with telling jokes, laughter and general conversations about work, colleagues and bosses. He was sure to keep his job a secret, but didn't mind describing his team to her. "You never said where you work," she asked three quarters through her fifth beer.

He stopped to look at her before shrugging a shoulder. "Construction. I help demolish buildings that are unusable or that have failed safety checks."

"And that was worth keeping a secret because?"

He matched her, smirk for smirk, and said. "Maybe I'm a secretive guy. Is that a problem?"

It was a moment before she shook her head. "Nah. We've all got secrets."

He rose an eyebrow at that comment. "Oh yeah? So what's your secret?"

She shook her head with a small laugh. "Secret." After a moment of looking at him she finished her drink and placed the bottle with a resigned sigh. "Well, I better get going."

Callen finished his own drink and nodded. "I'll walk you home."

Emily gave him a look and said, "You are the example of a gentleman you realise that right?" Callen laughed at the comment and brushed it off. She wasn't exactly sober and he had no idea how far she had to walk. When they got outside the cold night air hit him with a wave of relief. He had no idea how warm it had been inside until now. The feel of somebody's arm around his made him look down to see Emily holding onto him. She looked up after a moment with a grin. "Hi."

"Hi," he said with his own grin.

"You're comfy," she said pulling him gently down the sidewalk.

"Not sure anyone's said that to me before."

"Well you are." Her head sat leaning against his shoulder and he merely embraced the feel of her next to him. It was a nice feeling that he could grow to like. With a gentle sigh, he accepted the comfortable silence that settled around them as they walked through Los Angeles until they reached a nice set of flats. She pulled away and he watched her straighten herself up with a smile. "Thank you Tom."

He nodded his head with a soft smile. "You're welcome Emily."

She waved a hand and turned to leave. "Until next time."

"Until next time." He waved her goodbye and turned to leave.


	6. Chapter 6

The next time Callen visited the shop it was in the middle of the day, a coffee break as he and his team waited for kaleidoscope to pick up a car that was used in a robbery of a naval base, and it was busy. There was a line he had to wait in and when he reached the counter a paper cup with a napkin on top was produced, ready and waiting for him. "Looks like business is doing well," he commented, earning a withering smile from Emily.

"Tell me about it."

He spared a glance at the waiting queue and offered her a wave as he picked up both cup and napkin, "See you around."

"Later," she said as she promptly moved onto the next customer with a smile.

It was when he was sat in his car that he finally moved the napkin to take a sip of his drink. That was when he noticed the numbers written on it. A smile grew as he looked at her phone number. He glanced to the shop and after a moment he frowned. Looking back at the digits he decided to put the napkin in his pocket and decided he would deal with it later.

Later on in that same day, when he and Sam were staking out the home of the suspected bomber and thief, waiting for him to come home, he found himself with his hand in his pocket fingering the napkin.

"Something's bothering you," Sam said matter of fact.

He removed his hand and offered the bigger man a look. "I'm fine. I just don't like waiting around."

Sam gave him a look back. "You've been quiet since you got back from getting coffee. It's not hard to put two and two together." Callen simply stared at Sam for a moment before shaking his head and turning his eyes to the house a few hundred yards from them. "G, I'm your partner and your friend."

Callen sighed and dug into his pocket, withdrew the napkin and held it up for Sam to see. The ex-SEAL looked at it before taking it into his own hands and reading the numbers. "You got a girls number? That's it?"

Callen said nothing.

Sam sighed and handed the paper back. "Okay, who is she?"

He held the numbers up in front of him, carefully observing each number. "She works at this coffee shop I go to."

"That one?" he pointed to the now empty paper cup that sat in G's lap. He nodded his confirmation and Sam nodded slowly, his own gaze wandering towards the house they were watching. "Okay, so what's the problem?"

"I don't know," Callen said in honesty. His mind kicked into gear then, telling him the reasons why he was reluctant to put her number in his phone. She didn't even know his real name or job occupation, his job was a dangerous one that involved deep undercover work now and again. If someone got a hold of his phone, they'd be able to find her and use her against him. The list kept growing.

Sam merely delivered Callen with a look before shaking his head. "What's the downside to talking to her anyway?" Callen shook his head as his only answer. In honesty, there wasn't much of a downside. "So call her." Callen looked at Sam with a surprised look, to which the other agent stared back. "What? If you don't call her I will."

"Sam, she doesn't know what I do, my name."

"You don't even know your name."

"That's not the point."

"You know what, gimme that," he made a grab for the napkin still in Callen's hand to which he responded by moving it out of the way. "G, I demand you call her or I tell Deeks you've got a girl."

"I don't _have_ a girl."

Sam gave Callen one more look before shaking his head and holding his hands up. "Whatever, just let me tell you I told you so." He was about to retort when Sam spotted their suspect parking up their car in the driveway. "Time to go lover boy."

"Don't call me that," he said making his way from the car, number stuffed in his pocket.

When he finally got home that day, he retrieved the number from his pocket and decided to take Sam's advice and call her. After the fourth ring she picked up, "Emily? Hey, it's Tom."

"Tom, hi. Just got in then?"

"Yeah. How's your day been?"


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, when Callen walked into the bullpen, Sam delivered him a look. "You call?"

"Yep." He answered simply enough, dropping his bag down by the side of his desk.

"And?"

Callen looked over to him, seated himself in his chair and leaned back. "And, we talked. It was good."

"Told you," Sam said with a smirk.

"Told who what?" Deeks asked as he entered then, pulling his bag off his shoulder.

Callen gave Sam one last look before turning back to his desk. "Sam was telling me how the Lakers were going to win last night. I said they wouldn't."

Deeks looked between the two with curiosity. "Right. You and Callen, basketball? Really?"

"You don't think I'd be interested in sports Deeks?"

"Sam? Yeah sure, you? Nah, not so much."

Sam interrupted then with a laugh, earning a glare from Callen.

Kensi arrived at that moment, looking between the three of them with curiosity before shaking her head. "I don't want to know."

Eric's whistle gathered their attention and they all dropped the conversation and moved up the stairs into Ops. "Hey, Kens, would you take G to be a sports fan?"

"What? No of course not."

"Yes I am."

Kensi and Deeks both looked at him for a second, turned to look at each other then laughed. "Yeah, right," Kensi managed.

"I didn't think a dead Marine was a laughing matter," Hetty interrupted then, arms folded behind her back and her eyes looking between Kensi and Deeks. Both agents muttered an apology and turned back to the screen as Eric and Nell continued briefing them.

When they were returning from apprehending a suspect, said suspect in Kensi's and Deeks' car, Sam stopped the car across the road from the coffee shop Emily worked at. Callen peered at Sam. The ex-SEAL turned off the engine and simply looked at the younger man. "I wanna meet her."

"Why?"

"Cause you like her."

"I don't like her."

"G."

"Sam."

Without responding, Sam opened his car door and stepped out. He then began walking, towards the coffee shop and Callen jumped out of the car and followed behind him. "Sam, what are you doing?"

"I already told you G, I wanna meet her."

"Oh come on, I didn't realise she needed your approval."

Sam stopped just outside the door to hold his hands up. "I just want to make sure _you're_ right for _her_." With that, the larger man stepped inside the shop. Callen followed behind, a glare being delivered to the older man letting him know that the smaller agent was not happy.

"Hey, back already?"

Callen immediately beamed at the smaller woman. "Yes. My friend didn't believe me that this place serves the best coffee."

"Well," Emily said with a bright smile, "I'm sure my boss would be happy to hear that."

Sam offered the girl a bright smile of his own. "Can I get a coffee, one sugar with an extra shot of espresso please."

"Sure thing. Tom?"

"Yeah, I'll have a coffee. Thank you."

As she was making the drinks, she spoke over her shoulder; "So you and Tom work with each other?"

Sam smiled, "Yeah. We've been together for, five years now?"

"Yeah, five years."

"Sweet." She finished the drinks and placed them on the counter. "Here you go."

"Thank you. It's Emily isn't it?" Sam asked, holding a hand out. "The name's Sam."

She took his hand with a smile and shook it. "It's nice to meet you Sam and yes, it is Emily."

"Well, thank you Emily. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too Sam."

"I'll see you around," Callen said with a smile.

"See you around," she said, beginning to take the next customer's order.

When they were back in the car, drinks in hand, Callen opened the conversation. "Okay, you met her."

"I like her." He said and that was enough to leave Callen content with a smile in his seat.


	8. Chapter 8

"Sam seemed nice," Emily said over the phone to Callen.

"He has his moments."

"Doesn't everybody."

The rest of his team crossed his mind, including Nell and Eric, and he felt himself chuckle at her words. "Yeah, guess they do."

"But jeez five years as colleagues. I'm impressed."

A smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "Thank you. Tell me, do you plan on working in a coffee shop for the rest of your life."

"Ha, no. I err, I want to get into journalism. I mean, I've applied for an apprentice at one of the local papers. Hopefully I should have a reply soon."

He nodded at that. "Well, I hope you get it, I mean, I'm sure you'd be a great journalist."

"Thanks," she said and he could swear he could hear the smile in her voice. "Are you forever going to be a demolition man?"

He laughed at that. "Probably not. I mean, there are other things I want to be doing."

"Ooooh yeah? Such as?"

He laughed again. "Well, I guess we'll see won't we."

In the background he heard a doorbell ring. "Oh, one second."

He waited, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair. In his house, he stared at the picture he'd placed above the fireplace of his mother. On the other end of the line, he heard a deep male voice mumbling. "No," he heard Emily say. "I don't, I don't care, I can't see you." The sound of muffled voices followed, and then a door slamming. He frowned. "Sorry about that, look, I should probably get going." Callen looked to his watch to see 11 O'clock glaring at him. "I have an early shift tomorrow."

"Is everything alright?"

"Hmm huh, I'm fine." In the background, he heard banging on the door at her flat. "Sorry, I have to go."

"Emily." The one word left silence on the line, a silence he knew she was involved in and still listening. "Are you sure you're fine?"

It was another moment of silence before she replied, hesitance in her voice, "Yeah. I'm sure. Night Tom."

"Night Em, anytime you want to call me, you can." He wanted to let her know that if she was having any kind of trouble whatsoever, he was there to listen.

"I know," she answered, "Bye." After that he received a dial tone and he put his phone away, a frown fixed in place. That was the first time he'd heard her sound so, distracted and disturbed it actually made him worry a little. He promised himself the next chance he got to talk to her, face to face, and double check that she was fine.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: sorry that it's so short I'm on a tight schedule today. Tomorrow, I will give you a longer chapter that has more to it. **

It was two days after their conversation that he was able to pay a visit to her. Her usual smile, he could tell, was only halfway there. It did quite reach her eyes. As she placed his regular drink down, he simply offered a look. "Something's bothering you."

Her smile faltered for a second before she shook her head. "It's nothing, I promise."

Callen quirked his eyebrows at her. "Emily, you can tell me."

She sighed and looked around the store, as if looking for a way to get out of the conversation. "I swear it's nothing to worry about Tom. Just some family business. That's all."

He narrowed his eyes now. "What's so bad about it?"

"It's, complicated. Can we please stop talking about it?"

For a moment, he considered saying no. Whatever family business she had going on was obviously troubling her. But she didn't want to talk about it. "Okay, just remember you can call me, anytime you want."

She nodded then, smile returning to her face. She reached a hand across the counter and sat it on top of his. "I do, thank you."

"Okay," he checked the clock behind the counter and sighed. "Guess I better get going."

"See you around," she said.

"Goodbye."


	10. Chapter 10

It was a few days later when Emily called him, excitement in her voice. "Are you busy tonight?"

Callen looked around at Sam, the only other occupant of the car. The other man only smirked at him, a knowing look in his eyes at who was on the other end of the line. "I don't have any plans. You got something in mind?"

"You and me, celebratory drinks."

Now he quirked an eyebrow. "What are we celebrating?"

"I just got a call from an editor who agreed to take me on as part of a voluntary team as a trial before employing me."

"Congratulations. I can't wait."

"I'll see you then, is eight fine?"

"I'll see you then." He closed the phone and turned to face Sam's curious expression. Without Sam uttering a word, Callen answered the questions that were in Sam's mind; "She's gotten a temporary job at a newspaper. A trial run to see if she's up to the job of being a journalist."

"Lucky her."

"Yeah."

Before he left work that night, he handed Nell a piece of paper with Emily's name written on it. "Can you do me a personal favour and look up this name for me."

The younger woman offered him a curious glance but shrugged it off. "Discreetly?"

He nodded. "Discreetly. I owe you."

Nell grinned, "Yes you do."

It was when he through his third drink that Nell text him; _I've emailed you what I found._

He apologised to Emily and promptly replied, _I owe you._

"Work?"

Callen laughed and nodded. "Yeah. It's nothing."

"Well," she pushed his drink towards him with a smile. "Drink up. I aim to leave before it gets too late, or before I get drunk. Whichever happens first."

Another laugh escaped him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Well, you can count on me to walk you home."

She looked up from under his arm with a grin. "Good."

For a moment, he observed her with a soft smile, brown eyes perfectly happy. He turned away and picked up his glass, taking a long swig from it. "Do you have work tomorrow?"

She nodded, glass between her lips. She moved it away, now empty and said, "Yeah for a couple more weeks then I begin being an assistant."

Within the next minute, his own drink was gone and they were gathering themselves up. When they were outside they resumed their earlier position; his arm across her shoulders and her arm wrapped around his waist. He couldn't argue against it. It was a nice feeling and he wouldn't mind it on more than one occasions.

Their conversation on the way home was generic, with nothing specific coming up other than recent events taking place on the news. Before he knew it they'd reached her apartment block. Her released her from his hold and watched her turn, eyes aglow with joy as she watched him. No words passed her mouth; she simply stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He returned the hug and inhaled the smell of beer and apple spice.

When Emily finally pulled away, hands still behind his head, his hands still on her waist, she pressed her mouth against his. It took him a moment to get over the surprise, but once he had done he returned the soft touches.

He pulled away, a smile on his face and completely let go off her. "Good night."

"Good night," she said, turning away and entering the block of flats she lived in. He waited a few minutes, until he heard the sound of a door closing before walking away. He found himself licking his lips.

The walk home was a nice quiet one, allowing him to think about him and Emily. About how he'd officially taken a step into a relationship with her. That thought scared him just a little and he thought about it throughout most of his journey home. When he eventually got home he pushed those thoughts from his mind as he opened up the laptop he owned and checked his emails. He'd forgotten about the one Nell had sent him.

The mouse hovered over it and he argued with himself. Part of him wanted to know more about her, specifically the family trouble's she'd mentioned the other day. Another part knew that it was betraying her trust.

As he thought over the kiss once more he closed his emails and shut down his computer. He didn't want to know, at least not tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: running a little late, my apologies. But to my clock, I'm just on time :P This one is for SilverSentinal21 for her constructive nagging ;)**

"How was the first day as an 'assistant'?"

Emily's voice sounded tired when she replied to him on the phone. In the background, he could hear a shuffle of papers. "Tiring. I did next to nothing for an entire day, for nothing. I mean, I want to do this but-"

He laughed. "But you're wondering if it's worth it?"

A short laugh bounced back at him. "Yeah."

"Well, do you want to do it?"

"Of course."

"Then stick to it. Surely if you feel like this, several of the other assistants do and would give up now."

"So, don't give up is what you're saying to me?"

He smiled at those words. There was a teasing tone to her voice. "Yep. Don't give up. You are going to go back in tomorrow right?"

"Yes, I am as a matter of fact. Which, unfortunately for you, means I won't be able to serve you coffee tomorrow."

"I'm sure I can survive a couple of days without your coffee."

"Are you sure about that?" He narrowed his eyes with a smirk at the phone in his hand. He could hear the bait she was setting him, could hear the mockery in her tone dependent upon his next answer.

Sitting down in his chair, a beer in the other hand and his bag being used as a footrest, he waited another moment before speaking. "Perhaps. I'm not so sure it can wait for me though."

"Is that so Mr Henley?"

He took a sip from his bottle and let out a laugh. "Well, Miss Weston, what's your verdict?"

On the other end of the line he was sure he heard a faint giggle. "I think, that _you_, need to visit."

Callen took another sip, smile stuck in place. "Is that so? And when would I _need_ to visit?"

Emily made a sound as though debating what to say. "Thursday night, there's a movie and two packs of beer waiting on my table?"

The invite was loud and clear, _Do you want to come round?_ He did a quick mental checklist of when Sam and the team had things booked and nodded his head. "I think I can do that."

"And bring snacks," she said, her voice bright.

"Hey, you never said anything about snacks."

"What? So I have to provide everything?"

He laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll bring the snacks. Is seven too early?"

"Nah, seven's fine. I can't promise I'll be in a fit state to hold a conversation."

"That's what the movies for."

"Exactly, oh, apartment number 17."

Callen made a mental note of that. "Alright, Thursday night, seven O'clock, apartment 17. Got it."

"Yep." There was a pause as a knock was heard on the other end of the line, her front door. "Sorry, I'll just be a minute."

He shook his head to himself. "No, don't worry about it. I should probably let you go anyway. Work tomorrow."

"Okay, see you Thursday Tom. Good night."

He smiled as he said, "Good night Emily."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This time, it really is an EXTREME push to my deadline. I apologise. **

Thursday night arrived quickly and Callen stood outside door number 17. He raised his hand to knock, but stopped at the sound of Emily; "You have got to stop doing this."

"Em-"

The voices quietened then and the door opened. Emily looked shocked to see him there before she relaxed and offered him a small smile. "Hey," she said.

He offered her a soft smile, his eyes wandering into the apartment to be faced with an older gentleman, his hair thinning on the top and beginning to turn grey in the corners. "Is everything alright?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her nod. "Yeah, he was just leaving."

Callen fixed the man with a firm stare. A challenge, a dare. He seemed to concede and nod his head to Callen as he passed, uttering not a single word. He watched the man leave and when he was certain he was gone stepped inside the apartment, eyes immediately searching for Emily's own set. "Are you okay?"

She finally looked at him and he could see the strain whatever conversation had just taken place, had put on her. Emily nodded, "Yeah. I'm just going to change." He nodded, taking note of the pencil skirt and blouse. He put his bag onto the table and took a look around the room. There was little decorating the walls, just one or two photos of nice wildlife. There was one bookcase containing, at a quick count, just a little over twenty books. On a different shelf sat two photographs, one of a family photo; all on a road trip somewhere, and another of herself, a guy and a girl; assumedly her siblings.

He didn't get much time to look at her place as she entered then, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She offered him a soft smile and motioned to the couch in front of the TV she had. "Make yourself at home."

Sitting down he opened a beer, took a swig and with a satisfied grin said, "Don't mind if I do. Nice place."

She shrugged going over to the TV and putting a DVD into the player. "I make do." Once the DVD was in and the TV on, the film starting to play, she sat down on the couch with him, took her own beer and relaxed back into the couch. "Anything interesting happen at work then?"

Mentally, he thought about the Russian sleeper cell that almost killed half his team. "Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary. The newspaper?" A large sigh echoed and he laughed. "That bad?"

"It's just, it's like they don't think we care what they ask us to do! It's ridiculous! There has to be some code against this I'm sure." He laughed again, earning a nudge from her. "Don't laugh."

He pointed his beer at her smile, one arm resting on the top of the couch. "You're smiling, it can't be that bad."

"Whatever," she muttered, taking another drink from her beer. After a moment she looked in the bag he'd brought and found the microwavable popcorn. Three minutes later and she returned, feet tucked underneath her and body pressed against his. She rested against him, popcorn in her lap and eyes fixed on the screen.

Callen rose a brow at her position, back pressed against his side and head leaning against his shoulder. "You comfy?"

"Yep," was her short reply and he heard the smile in her voice.

"And what if I wasn't."

"Tough." After a moment she twisted to look at him, smirk on her face. She shrugged her shoulders and returned to her position against him. "Popcorn?" the bowl was lifted from her lap and into his.

With a grin he helped himself to some and relaxed into the couch as the film started.

They didn't talk much throughout the film, eyes fixed on the action, but they did move. Emily tucked herself further into Callen's side, shoulder leaning comfortably against his side with her head almost in his lap. His arm had moved from atop the couch to resting on her side. Unconsciously, his thumb had started rubbing circles against her side and it wasn't until the movie had finished that he noticed this.

He only stopped his movements when she made a motion to sit up and wipe the hair out of her face. She turned to him with a smile and let the credits roll. "Have fun?"

He nodded. "It was fun, yeah. And nice you know, to just relax."

"Hmm, I agree." She stretched her arms above her head and stood, grabbed the empty beer bottles and put them next to the sink. "So, when do I next get the privilege of your company?"

Callen laughed and moved from his own seat, grabbing at the rubbish that was lying around the table from their snacks. He moved into the kitchen; an adjoining room to the living room, only separated by a small island, and put the rubbish in the bin. Leaning against the counter with his hands on it for support he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I could do Monday?"

She turned, arms folded across her chest with a smile. "Monday's fine for me. Plans?"

He thought it over for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. He barely had a life outside of NCIS and now he realised that he had little knowledge of the extracurricular activities that took place in LA. "How about a surprise?"

"What if, I don't like surprises?"

"Tough."

She narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk and shrugged. "Fine. But, I think you need to leave now."

"Kicking me out already?"

Emily laughed and stepped away from the counter. She started to walk towards the front door. "Yep. I have to get up stupidly early tomorrow. Good night Tom, it was great having you round."

Callen nodded and made his way towards the open door. "Night Em', I hope tomorrow's a fun day for you."

That earned another laugh off her and he paused in her doorway long enough for her to peck his lips. "I hope so too. Bye."

"Bye," he said, giving her one last wave before leaving her alone. When he seated himself in his car and turned the engine on, it was then that he realised he'd called her "Em" instead of Emily. "Huh," he said to himself. He smiled to himself at the thought and pushed his car into drive and home.


	13. Chapter 13

Monday came too quickly in Callen's opinion. He and Sam were leaving the NCIS headquarters, both going to their respective cars, when Callen asked Sam, "What's there to do around here?"

Sam laughed, throwing his bag into his car. "You mean for Emily?" Callen only gave him a look, as if to say 'what else?'

"Who's Emily?" Deeks' voice was heard and Callen sighed, turning to see the cop stroll into the car park. Kensi was close behind him, frown in place and eyes fixed on Callen, waiting for an answer.

He shared a look with Sam and the bigger man nodded. "Callen's girl."

"You have a _girl_?" Kensi asked, shocked written clearly across her face.

"What?" Deeks said, equally shocked.

"No way," both agents began.

"It's true," Callen said, now turning to face the two flabbergasted agents. "She's a Silver Camaro cruze. I was asking Sam where I should take her, ya'know, show her around."

This time both agents stared at him with a look of confusion. "A car?" Deeks asked. "You guys were, talking, about a car?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "What, you think G actually has the power to attract and keep hold of beautiful women?"

Kensi nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, do you own _anything_ in your house?"

Callen stared at her for a second, her grin in place and shook his head. "Laugh all you want guys. I have a date."

"Yeah, with a car," Deeks mocked, moving to his own car.

He and Sam watched both Kensi and Deeks make it to their cars before Sam turned to the other agent. "Take her to the beach."

"Like she's never done that before."

Sam stared at Callen. "Well maybe if you got out more we wouldn't be talking about this."

"I get out."

"Obviously not enough."

Callen pointed at him to answer back. "I got nothing."

"The beach." Sam didn't say anything else on the matter, merely climbed into his car and started his engine.

Callen sighed and decided he was going to change and call her before he picked her up, just to make sure that they were still on for tonight. He did this whilst he was in the car. "I should be ready for six."

He looked at his watch and nodded. "I'll be there." The conversation ended then. Thirty minutes later, in a fresh shirt, he knocked on her door. She opened the door wearing a knee length loose, strapless aqua dress. "Hey."

"Hey," he offered back, still taking her in.

She locked the door and smiled up at him. "Where to then?"

Shaking himself, he smiled back and shrugged. "The beach?"

"Oooh, I cannot remember the last time I went to the beach to relax."

He looked over at her as they reached his car. "Really? It's practically down the road."

Emily looked over to him, shook her head and climbed into his car. "Some of us have worked a lot of days with little time to walk on the beach."

"Those Sunday's you get off?"

"I like to read too."

"Okay," he said as he put his car into drive and began the journey. "How goes the paper?"

"Oh," she turned to look at him, grin on her face and he watched out of the corner of his eye. "There's three of us they're going to choose from, and I'm one of those three."

"That's great. I take it the work paid off."

"About time," she muttered as they pulled into a car park. "I mean, we don't fine out until Friday, and we do still have to carry on working."

"But, you have a chance."

"Well yeah, exactly."

Callen stood for a moment on the beach's edge. It took him a moment to look around to see what was going on, if there was anything for them to do. He couldn't spot much straight off the bat and decided to walk her towards the sea front. She followed alongside him, hands behind her back and face watching the sea. He could tell that she was thinking about something.

"You okay?"

She nodded and turned to face him with a smile. "Yeah. My brother, he erm, he joined the Marines a few years back."

He paused a moment, "How's he doing?"

She nodded, "Yeah. He's fine."

He let a smile grow. "Come on." The rest of the evening was spent with small conversations, some of which consisted of her telling him her brother; Daniel, had been in the Marines for seven years now and was due a promotion to Gunnery Sergeant soon. Her sister, Pauline, was a teacher in Miami and married with three children.

When she had asked about his siblings, if he had any, he told her the truth, or half-truth; she'd drowned in a river when he was little. Nothing more was needed to be said.

By the end of the night, they were sat on the wall that separated the beach from the roads. Emily was sat, head on his shoulder and legs gently moving back and forth against the wall. Callen had one arm around her shoulders, his other braced on the wall. She shivered and he looked down at her. "Cold?"

She nodded, "A little."

He nodded and nudged her up. "Come on, let's get you home."

A yawn was stifled and he laughed. "What?" she said, her voice tired.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

The drive home was quiet as she rested against the window, eyes on the verge of closing. He kept one eye on her as he drove to her apartment. When they arrived he had to hold her up as they walked up the steps and towards her door. If he'd known a night on the beach would've zapped her he wouldn't have suggested it.

"Emily," he cooed with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I know." She lifted her head lazily and smiled up at him. "Thank you. For a wonderful day."

He nodded his head, one arm still around her the other holding her wrist. "Anytime."

She nodded and re-wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He returned the gesture and smiled into her neck. "Good night Em'."

"Night Tom," she muttered against his chest and he pulled her away, steered her towards her door and waved. He took a few steps away and paused to watch her, to make sure that she got herself inside.

Once he was satisfied he walked away and drove home.

The next day when he saw Sam in the pen he nodded to the man, "Thanks for the suggestion."

"Went well."

He nodded, "Yeah." He got no further as Eric whistled to get everybody's attention for another case.


	14. Chapter 14

"I got the job."

"What?" Callen was in the middle of an operation with Sam; watching another suspect's supposed hideout.

Emily repeated herself, "I got the job, at the paper."

"Congratulations." His mind was distracted by the job and Sam was looking at him with a smirk.

"Is this a bad time?"

He smirked himself, "Yeah, kinda. I'll call you back when I have a chance."

"Okay, have fun."

"You too," he said before hanging up on her. After a moment he sighed and turned to the other man, who was still smirking. "Go on."

Sam shook his head, turning away from him. "Since when did you call girls back?"

Callen shook his head and returned his gaze to the place they were watching. "Look-"

Sam stopped him then as their suspect drove into the place then. "Come on."

He managed to find time to call Emily back when he was alone in the bull pen. Kensi and Deeks were working a lead, Sam was undercover and he was going through reports and files for their latest case to see if they missed anything. "Hey, listen, I have five minutes to spare."

"Better then nothing," she said and he couldn't help but smile.

"So you got the job huh?"

"Yeah. I start as an official journalist in two days."

"Nice, I take it celebrations are in order."

"Only if you have the time."

He leaned back in his seat, phone still pressed to his ear and files in his hand. "I think I can find some free time to join you."

"Oh good, means I won't be alone."

He laughed at that and let his eyes carried on reading the text in front of him. Something caught his attention. "Listen, can I call you later."

"You better."

He smirked and nodded, "I promise. Bye."

"It looks like someone had caught your interest Mr Callen." Callen looked up to Hetty, stood just outside of the bullpen.

He waited, just observing her before he got up from his desk, file in hand. "We'll have to see."

As he walked past her, he knew that she was going to make another comment. "It isn't such a crime to have friends outside of work you know Mr Callen."

"I have friends Hetty."

The small woman didn't say anymore, just shared a knowing smirk with him before she walked away and left him to his work. He didn't want to think about what that smirk meant and settled himself into a mind frame for work.

By the time he finished work that day, the clock was turning near to half ten. As he climbed into his car, he put his phone on loudspeaker and called Emily. "Hello?"

"Hey, Em'. I'm going to have to apologise I've only just gotten off work."

"It's fine Tom. Celebrations tomorrow night?"

He nodded his head. Tomorrow they were meant to be catching up on paperwork. "Sure. Looking forward to it."

"Me too."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey! Look! Two in one day! Aren't you guys lucky :P Enjoy. **

In celebration of Emily's promotion in the paper, they'd taken to having a couple of bottled drinks in the small yard that sat in the middle of the apartment buildings. In the yard were a few flower beds with benches dotted around. Both Callen and Emily were sat on the same bench, beers in hand and heads leaning back to look at the stars. They'd both agreed to have celebratory drinks at a later time to enjoy the stars.

"You know what's great now?"

Callen looked at her, took a sip and asked, "What?"

She tilted her head forward and looked at him. "I now get paid."

He laughed and held his beer out to here, "That is great news."

Emily clinked her bottle with his and took a long sip from it. When she was finished she leaned back against the bench, head bent over the back and eyes fixed on the sky. Callen took that moment to fully think about her and the effect she was having on him. He was picking up the phone for her, calling her back, taking time out of his day to visit her and wasn't finding it uncomfortable. The affection she'd showed for him was nice, he'd admit, and he even admitted he could get used to it. But he was an NCIS agent with no first name.

He took a long swig from his drink at that thought and resorted his eyes to the sky. He had no idea what he was doing. He had no idea if he was ever going to be able to tell her the truth; his name, his job, his life.

A sigh left him, causing her to tilt her head at him. "You okay?"

He nodded, eyes fixed on the stars. "Yeah, just thinking."

"About?"

Now he looked at her. His tongue got caught in his throat as he tried to answer her. He shook his head. "Nothing too important."

She smirked at him, one arm rested on the top of the bench, the other gripping the bottle in her lap. "Care to share?"

He smirked back, "Nope. Secret."

They shared a look for a moment before she laughed shortly and took another swig. "Fair enough." Her gaze returned to the stars then and he couldn't but frown. She didn't seem to care too much about him disclosing little about his past. It made him question what was in her past. He knew she had secrets, had said so, and yet she wasn't going to be telling him anytime soon and wasn't pressing him for his.

He liked that about her.

Finishing his beer he put the bottle with the others for a quick clean up and fixed his gaze to the stars. A comfortable silence had settled over them and he felt fine to just sit there, staring at the stars, until the sun came up.

But his body would refuse to allow him to and he could see the yawn that Emily gave. She wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer. "I think you need to go to bed."

"Oh, but it's so nice out here."

"And, you'll be asleep on this bench in no time."

"Then you could always carry me to bed?" He paused for a moment, sharing a smirk with her before she waved him off. "I'm kidding. Like you'd have the balls to do that."

He saw that as a challenge and accepted it. She squealed as he got his arms underneath her and picked her up. "Hey!"

"See," he smirked down at her as she put an arm behind him. "I could carry you up those stairs."

There was a brief pause before she fluttered her eyelashes and said, "Can you? Please?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Really?"

Emily shook her head then, "Nah, I'm kidding. You can put me down now." He dropped her feet carefully, righted her and grabbed four of the five bottles. She grabbed the last one and lead the way back up the stairs to her apartment. The door was opened, bottles put down and Emily turned to Callen with a smile. "Thank you for your company."

He nodded. "Anytime."

"So," she said sauntering towards him. After a moment she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him. "If I were to ask for your company at six AM?"

He laughed, "There's a chance I'd be up but unavailable."

Emily laughed and pulled herself away. "I'm kidding. I'm not going to call you up at six AM."

"Good," he commented, grabbing his leather jacket from atop her couch. "Then I won't have a need to be worried."

"You'd be worried huh?" Callen laughed again and headed towards the door. "Yeah, yeah, sleep, work, life." She walked towards the door, placed both hands on his neck and pecked him once. "Good night."

"Night."


	16. Chapter 16

Callen felt a shiver run down his spine. That didn't happen often. With a frown, he took another look around the bullpen, bag slung over his shoulder. Everybody else had already left for the night. He'd stayed behind to get in some time on the punching bag, something he hadn't done in a while, and to catch up on some paperwork.

Hetty's voice appeared behind him, "You are aware your job is a dangerous one."

He sighed, a slight twitch to the corner of his mouth as he turned around. "What are you getting at Hetty?"

The smaller woman shrugged her shoulders, "Living two lives can cause conflicts and sometimes you have to make big decisions." Now he eyed her up. Did she know? "She doesn't know about your job here, or what you do. But perhaps, it's worth to talk about such hypothetical situations."

He shook his head and opened his mouth to reply only to find himself cut short. What could he say? Hetty was right. One way or another, Emily was going to find out the truth about him and his job, if he wanted to continue this thing they had going. He didn't even know what to name it. A relationship? How could he call it that if he wasn't honest about what he did about his name. A fling? That word didn't sit right with the situation. He sighed. "Mr Callen, in my opinion, you should think deeply about the potential consequences you'd have on each other."

That made him frown. There were all sorts of reasons he could name for his consequences, but hers? "What do you mean consequences?"

Hetty stepped past him towards her desk. "I mean, the outside factors that could affect a relationship."

"Such as?" There was no denying it that he was curious to what she knew.

She sat down at her desk and clicked the mouse on her desk. "Such as the dangers that come with your job, the risks you take whenever you go undercover."

It took him a moment to move, shuffling his bag further onto his shoulder. "What about the outside factors with Emily?"

The smaller woman looked up at the larger man as he approached her desk. "That, Mr Callen, is for you two to discuss."

He narrowed his eyes at her and studied her for a moment. "How did you find out?"

She wore a grin now, "I could tell." He opened his mouth to answer back but she waved a hand at him, "Run along Mr Callen."

It was a moment before he turned and began to walk away. He cast an uncertain look over his shoulder at the woman. One day, he was going to learn how she did what she did.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Another late delivery. My apologies.**

"Hey, Tom?"

"Hmm?" He turned to look at her. Emily's legs were placed over his knees and he was forced to rest his arms atop them. She had been typing away, creating an article for one of the later pages in the newspaper about some teenager who'd gotten a scholarship to a college after years of abuse from his parents.

She looked up at him, curious expression on her face. "Do you know how to surf?"

He frowned then, smirk in place. "What?"

"Can you surf? Or should I say it more slowly?"

He mock glared at her and nodded his head. "Yes. I can surf. Not professionally like some of the other people around here, but I can surf."

"Can you teach me?"

It took him a moment to register what she was asking of him. She wanted him, to personally teach her how to surf. "You don't know?"

Emily held her hands up then with a short laugh. "Hey, just because I live near to the sea doesn't mean I've had the time to learn to surf. Besides, I bet you'd make a great teacher."

He couldn't help the small laugh he gave. "I don't know. I mean, I'd be happy to try to teach you but I'm not so sure I'd make a great teacher."

"Oh come on," she swatted at his arm. "Is that a yes then?"

He held his hands up at her, "Fine. Yes, I will try to teach you how to surf. Is there any reason for this sudden interest?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's something I've wanted to do for a while."

"Fair enough."

"Friday?"

He thought about it for a moment. "There's a chance I'll be overrun with work."

"If so Saturday morning?"

"Deal."

"Done."

He grinned as she grinned at him. She only returned to her work when a beep was heard and she tapped away. "Huh."

Quirking an eyebrow he peered over at her. "What?"

Emily shook her head. "Nothing, just my brother sent me an email."

"Is that strange?"

"No," she shook her head. "He's just early is all." He watched her eyes move across the screen, the frown creasing her brow deepening the more she read. The silence stretched on for a couple of minutes before she shook her head, shut the lid of her laptop and put it down onto the table in front of her. "Sorry, erm, do you mind if we catch up later? There's something I need to check my brother."

He nodded his head as she removed her legs from atop of his. "Everything's alright with him right?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine. Everything's fine. Don't worry." It was now that she offered him a smirk and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you Friday then?"

"Or Saturday," he pointed out as he made his way to her front door.

"Or Saturday. Night."

"Night."


	18. Chapter 18

Friday arrived and Callen had to phone Emily up at noon to let her know that he could do their surfing lesson that afternoon. They were finishing early due to a lack of any emergencies coming up. They'd all spent the day doing paperwork, much to Hetty's delight. He'd managed to work through his leg of work quickly and grabbed his bag as he stood to leave.

"What? Already?" Deeks, who'd been procrastinating all morning looked at the other agent with surprise

"Some of us actually do work Deeks," Sam commented as he stood reaching for his bag too.

"I do work," Deeks said as he looked between the two.

Callen shook his head and waved goodbye to Kensi and Deeks. "Have fun." Sam walked by his side and he shared a look with the man. "You got any plans?"

"Spend the afternoon playing baseball with the kids you?"

"Surfing."

That made Sam raise an eyebrow. After a moment he laughed and patted Callen on the back. "You two have fun."

"Who said I was going with somebody?"

Sam just gave him a look before he climbed into his car with a short laugh. Callen shook his head and climbed into his own car. He'd checked that morning that Emily had a wetsuit. It wouldn't be hard to rent two boards out when they got there. He'd already arranged to pick her up and drive her to the beach. When he knocked on her door it was to see her dressed in a floor length loose green skirt along with a loose pastel blue shirt. She was already wearing her wetsuit underneath and he smirked. "You ready?"

"Are you?" She smirked back and grabbed her bag off the floor along with a towel.

He laughed and waited for her to lock her door before following behind her to his car. He'd managed to change himself just before picking her up, a set of jogging pants and navy shirt covering him up. When they reached the surfer's spot he parked, boot towards the beach, and rented two boards for them as she took off her skirt and shirt. He removed his pants and shirt, both sets ending up in a pile in the boot, and passed a board over to her. "So you've never surfed?"

She shrugged her shoulders, following alongside him. "I think my brother tried to take me once or twice when I was 16, before he went away. So not really."

"Okay," he said with a nod. "Tell you what, we'll start with just getting on a board in the water shall we?"

"Sounds good to me."

They waded into the water until they were waist deep before they climbed on top of the boards. Callen paddled out until there was a good ten feet of water beneath them before sitting up on his board. Emily followed suit and they sat, letting the waves bop them up and down. "Okay, what you want to do is lie, near to the end of the board." He lead by example and watched her copy him. The next fifteen minutes went on as he gave her instructions on standing on her board and staying on it. Twenty minutes into their lesson and she managed it. "There you go," he said with a smile. "Now, try that a couple more times."

Emily slipped then and fell into the water, disappearing beneath the surface. When she did resurface he shook his head at her laughter. "Woops."

"Come on. Let's try you on some of the small waves."

They paddled out a few feet and Callen remained sat on his board, content with watching her attempt to stand and remain standing. On the fifth fall into the water, when she climbed back onto her board he frowned. A trickle of red coloured water began to create a river over her hand. His eyes quickly scanned her arm and he noticed the tear in her suit. "Emily."

"What?" She looked at him, concern in her face as he paddled closer and reached out for her arm.

Callen ran his fingers over the tear in her suit. Emily winced and when he pulled his hand back it was to see blood on his fingers. "Hold on," he lifted the ripped fabric up to get a closer look and decided it wasn't a serious graze. His concern was to how it had happened. "Come on," he nodded to the beach, turning her board around with his.

Ten minutes later, with Callen carrying both boards to his car and Emily walking behind with one hand wrapped around her arm, he managed to get a much closer look at her arm. He asked her to remove one arm of her suit and she did so, a towel wrapped around her chest. Grabbing the small medical kit he kept in his car, he cleaned the wound with a cloth and looked closely at it. "Any ideas when it happened?"

She shook her head, wincing as he ran over the edges of the wound with his thumb. They were straight edged, too straight edged to be caused by any ragged rocks or stones. Not to mention he'd taken far enough out to not have this happen. His experience was telling him it was a graze from a bullet. But who would be firing at either of them and why? He frowned as he grabbed a bandage out of the kit and set to work wrapping it around her arm. "You must've caught a rock, luckily it isn't too deep."

Emily nodded silently. He glanced up to see her frowning too, eyes fixed on her arm. "First aid?" she asked, not meeting his gaze.

He flicked his eyes back to her arm and finished the bandage. "Necessary course with my job." When he was satisfied with his work he put the kit away and said, "Let me take these back, then I'll take you home okay?"

"Okay," she ran her fingers over the bandage.

He picked up the boards, returned them and walked back to his car. On his way back he'd looked from the sea to any places that a potential gunshot could've come from. There was only one spot; on a path that lead up a cliff above the car park.

He made it a mental note to go back to Ops and ask Eric or Nell if there were any security cameras up there. When he reached his car, Emily was already in the passenger seat, a frown on her face. He quickly dried himself off, threw the towel in the back and dressed. "Don't worry," he said as he turned the ignition on. "When me and Sam went surfing this one time, he stood on a sharp rock. It went right through and he had to be to hospital for stitches."

That earned a look from her, a wince. "Ouch. I bet that hurt."

He smirked. It was a true story. "Yeah, he was cranky for the next two weeks. It was a nightmare."

"I can imagine."

When they pulled up to her apartment blocks after much silence, she asked, "Should I get it checked out." She gestured to her arm. "Just in case?"

Callen paused for a moment. Was he being paranoid about nothing? He thought about it for a moment longer then shook his head. "It doesn't need stitches so you should be fine."

"Okay. Thanks for today."

He nodded. "No problem. You need a hand or-"

"Nah, I should be fine thanks. Next time?"

He nodded and let her leave, grabbing her bag out of the boot. She waved him off with a small smile before disappearing into her apartment. As usual, he waited until she was inside before pulling away. It wasn't even six when he got home so he quickly changed into jeans and a shirt and drove back to Ops.

As he expected Eric and Nell were still inside. "Eric, Nell. I need you to do me a favour."

Both techs looked up at him with curious expressions. "Okay," Eric said with a hint of caution.

"I need to know if there are any cameras near Venice beach."

"Okay," Nell said.

"Any particular reason?" Eric said.

Callen pointed to a camera that overlooked a cliff with the sea in the background. "Where's that one."

"Err," Nell pulled up a map and pointed it out to him, "Here."

"Go back to two hours ago and fast forward." Both techs shared a look with each other but obliged and did as he asked. Callen's gaze was fixed on the screen, watching the edge face. "There. Go back a few minutes and play it."

On the screen, a man in a baseball cap carrying a duffel bag stopped at the edge of the cliff and pulled out a small set of binoculars from his jacket pocket. After a few seconds of searching he put them back, put his bag down and opened it. He cast a look around him and began to unload parts of a rifle. "Callen, what happened?"

He didn't answer, just watched as the man readied the gun in the general direction of the sea. A few moments later another man, his back also to the camera, came along and attacked the gunman. A flash was seen from the muzzle of the gun, a shot being fired. The two men fought for a few minutes before the gunman knocked the other man to the floor, kicked him twice and ran off, quickly pulling his gun into two pieces and stuffing both of them away.

The man on the floor got up a few moments later and chased after him, off camera. "Is there any cameras in that direction?"

Eric shook his head. "No, unfortunately. And there isn't a good frame to get a facial off."

"Mr Callen." Hetty's voice brought his attention to the other woman. "What's this about?"

"Someone took a shot at us."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I know that some of you have been wanting to see Emily's point of view. So here you go.**

"Mr Callen," Hetty began as she stepped into the room. "I believe the hypothetical situation we talked about is about to come up."

Callen stared at the woman as he remembered their conversation from the other day. "Hetty-"

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Not drastically."

"Then I suggest you keep a careful eye out. Perhaps fully disclose certain information."

Callen remained silent. He trusted Hetty's opinions and trusted that she knew what she was talking about. But to tell Emily his real name and job? Did he want to do that? That kind of information wasn't something he liked people to know who didn't _need_ to know it. "Hetty-"

"For now," the smaller woman moved to the two techs and nodded to the camera feed on the screen. "We will keep this under wraps. Nobody was killed and it looks like somebody is going after our mystery shooter for us. I will ask around and see what news there is. For now; I suggest we search for other leads to who our shooter may be."

"Mr Callen," Hetty said, attracting his attention. "I suggest you leave now before something more happens. We're still unsure of who the actual target was."

Callen paused for a moment before he turned and left Ops. His destination was going to be Emily's. Something was going on, either to do with him, with her. He had no idea what and it was something that was going to annoy him until he figured out what it was. Ten minutes of driving later and he pulled up to Emily's apartment block. He was still debating with himself, whether or not he would tell her his name when his phone went. Sam was on the other end of the line, "Hetty told me what happened. What do you want me to do?"

"Go to the sniper's spot and see if there's any evidence there."

"I'm on it."

Callen hung up and turned his attention to the building in front of him. With his phone still in his hand he decided to call her. "Emily, hey, listen, can I come round? There's something I want to tell you."

"I'm not in at the moment, I'm sorry."

"Well, I can come to you."

He heard the solidness of her decision, "Sorry, I'm kind of in the middle of something."

A few seconds of silence stretched between them as he thought about what he could say. "Emily, I _need_ to talk to you."

There was a hesitation in her voice now as she replied slowly, "I- I'm sorry. I'll call you later okay?"

That left him no choice but to agree. "Okay. As soon as you get a free chance."

"Will do." The line went dead and it took him a moment to decide on what he should do. After a few moments he decided to just head back to Ops and see if he himself could find anything.

_Emily's POV_

She hung up the phone with a sigh and turned back to her brother; Daniel. His short cut black hair was beginning to lengthen since the last time she'd seen him. "Okay, are you going to explain what's going on?"

As if he was under watch, he nodded his head, crouched over the small food court table and laid one arm on the top. "I want you to publish an article for me. Expose some faults in the requisition forms."

Emily studied her brother's face. It must've been something pretty serious. The twitch in his hand caused her to lay her own hand over his. "Okay, so tell me, what's going on?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. I can't. They'll realise that somebody copied the information soon and soon after that, they'll realise it was one of five of us. It won't be long before they figure out it was me. Here."

He placed his hand in hers, passing her a memory stick. "Daniel-"

"Please. Lives are being put in danger, being played with. I don't want any more men dying."

Taking another look at his face she nodded and slipped her hand away from his. "Fine. Do you need anything else?"

It was a moment before he shook his head. "Just write that story."

Emily nodded and lifted her bag up off the floor, pulling it onto her shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid."

He offered her a stupid grin and laughed. "Too late for that Em."

She shook her head with her own grin. "Later."

"Bye."

She made a direct line for her car and made a direct route home. Whatever was on the memory stick he'd given her was something that he didn't want other people to know about, or to get their hands on. She needed to read what he'd given her, write a story and convince her boss her story was worth printing.

Emily shook her head as she pulled up to her apartment block. She remembered that Tom wanted to tell her something, and that seemed urgent in itself. A sudden wave of panic hit her. Was he going to tell her he was married or had a girlfriend of some kind? That he couldn't stick around? The questions started flying around her head and she shook her head, stopping herself from asking more questions.

She forced herself out of her car and towards her front door, pulling her phone and keys out at the same time. His number had already been dialled when she reached the door, key in the lock. On the third ring he picked up. "Hey, listen, I'm home now so whatever you wanted to talk about I'm all ears."

"I'm on my way."

He gave her no other words, just hung up then and it took her a moment to comprehend what had just happened. Waving another panic away, she closed her door, grabbed her laptop, booted it up, grabbed the pen drive, plugged it in and opened the files. At a first glance, she couldn't make heads or tails of it, but after a few minutes she understood what her brother was trying to point out; items requested didn't match those that were used. In fact, there were two kinds of 'used items' forms and she could tell that one of them was the original, the other a faked one.

She grabbed a notepad and a pen, began to jot down the ones that didn't match up; C-4, detonators, wires-

That's as far as she got before the door went. Closing the lid of her laptop and pushing the notepad into her bag, she went to the door and found Tom stood, eyes anxiously looking around the entire building. "Are you okay?"

"Can I come in?" he asked.

She nodded and closed the door behind him. "What did you want to talk about?"

He stood, looking awkward for a few moments before he decided to lean against the kitchen counter and fold his arms. "I haven't been completely honest with you, and I apologise, but I want to tell you the truth."

She was concerned. What had he been lying about? "Okay? About what?"

"Let me start with my real name;" here, he paused and Emily's throat began to dry. Part of her didn't want to know. But he began talking again and she listened; "It's Callen, G. Callen and I'm an NCIS special agent."


	20. Chapter 20

Silence.

That's what she offered him, along with a piercing, uncertain stare. In his chest, his heart hammered and his throat began to dry up. He'd taken a step into direct trust. He'd given her his name and job. He swallowed the lump in his throat and studied her expression. He couldn't get a read on it, couldn't tell what she thinking.

A soft tone from her pocket seemed to shake her out of her trance and she turned her back on him to read what he guessed was a text message. He frowned. "Em'."

"What did you say your name was?" It was indirect, spoken to the wall and away from him. The tone she used was quiet and almost uncaring. He didn't like it.

"Callen."

She shook her head, "First name?"

He paused. "All I know, is that it begins with G."

That made her turn around but again, he couldn't quite read her expression. "What? How is that possible?"

He hesitated. Did he want to tell her? "My parents died when I was young and the only note to what my name is, was the letter G."

There was another moment of uncomfortable silence as she studied him this time. "So Tom's not your real name." It was a statement of fact rather than a question, just as her next words were; "And you don't work in demolition."

He nodded. He couldn't think of what to say that would ease the awkwardness he'd put between them. Slowly, he could practically feel the wall she was building up against him. "Em', let me explain."

She shook her head. "Can- Can you leave? I have stuff to do?" She adverted her gaze, her back placed towards him again and Callen felt that wall solidify. If he was honest with himself, he wanted to tear that wall down. She'd managed to worm her way inside of his heart, something he didn't think would happen for a while. He cared about her as a friend and more and yet, he was ruining the trust she'd put in him.

"Em, please."

Emily shook her head again, back still to him. "Please, _Callen_, just leave."

Callen waited an awkward moment before nodding his head and shuffling his feet towards the door. He opened it, sparing one last glance towards her. "Em," the name he'd adopted for her didn't raise her attention and he sighed. "I do care, about you." It was an effort to get the words out, but he needed to say it, not just for her but for him. He'd needed to hear himself say it out loud that he did care about Emily.

But the words caused little reaction and he nodded his head. There was nothing he could do but wait and see if she offered any sort of forgiveness. He closed the door behind him and decided that he'd stick around, just in case the shooter was after her. He parked his car a few yards further down the road and turned the engine, eyes resting on the street and the apartment blocks.

_Emily POV_

The sound of the door closing allowed her enough mental space to slump back down into her chair she'd been in before he arrived. Tom wasn't his real name. He didn't even _have_ a name. She sat, head in hands and elbows on table. Was she angry? She didn't know. Mad? Maybe a little. Hurt? Greatly.

Her mouth dried up as she thought over what he'd said. An NCIS special agent. NCIS. What was that? Opening the lid of her laptop and typing in her password, the screen came to life with what she had been looking at before; Daniel's documents.

Sudden thoughts of what he'd given her swamped anything Tom- _No, Callen_ she mentally reminded herself with a sigh, had said to her. From what she could gather as she finished the list, there was enough missing materials left to make ample amounts of explosive devices and that was from the C-4 alone. She didn't want to think about what anything else could be used for.

That thought alone made a lump form in her throat. Her phone buzzed then on the table, easing the lump down her throat and she picked it up to see a text from her brother; _Someone wants that information, don't let them have it. Whatever you hear about me on the news isn't true._

Her heart wrenched in her chest and she felt tears prickle her eyes. Knowing that To- _Callen_ had lied to her about his name; she vaguely wondered what else he had lied about. But that Daniel was in trouble, with the military, was enough to cause panic to fill her.

Emily sighed and closed her laptop. What she needed to do right now, was have a quiet walk to herself. She needed to clear her mind, think, relax, something. Another sigh. She removed the memory stick and put it inside her pocket. Grabbing her bag and keys she locked the door and turned, her intention to walk to the beach, sit, and just think.

It was a relaxing thirty minute walk and she sat herself down near to the incoming waves. At this time of night now, there were very few people around, giving her a bit of peace. Her hand strayed towards her arm, running over the bandage that Callen had put on her.

"Callen." She tested his name on her tongue and sighed. Pulling out her phone she scrolled through it until she found his name and just stared at it. Part of her wanted to call him, tell him that he must've had reasons for not telling her the truth, but another part was mad that he'd kept it a secret, even his job.

She growled, frustrated, and threw her phone by her feet and slung her crossed arms across her knees and rested her head on top. She stayed in that position, letting the water gradually get closer to her feet, just thinking about what she should do.

_I do care, about you._

Those words replayed themselves in her mind and she sighed with a frown. He'd said he cared, about her. Despite the lack of a couple of details, he cared. She sighed again and dragged her phone out of the sand. She scrolled through it once more until she found _Tom_. After a few moments of simply staring at it, she changed it to _Callen_ and rang him.

On the second ring he picked up. "Callen?"

"Yeah?"

"Can- Can I see you?"

She wasn't sure yet if she was going to be making a mistake, but she wanted to talk to him once more. "Yeah, sure, are you still in?"

She shook her head and remembered she was on the phone. "No, I'm erm, I'm on the beach."

"Okay, give me fifteen minutes?"

She nodded and hung up on him, returning her phone to her pocket. With a sigh, she sat and waited for Callen to turn up.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Two chapters in one day, again :D Lucky you! (I didn't mean for the name to sound the same as Mike from Burn Notice. I am changing his name. Woops :P)  
**

Callen checked the text Sam had sent him; _Found a bullet casing, came from a sniper using 7mm Remington Magnum rounds._ _Running ballistics soon._

_Keep me updated_ he sent back and put his phone away. He'd followed Emily to the beach, to keep an eye on her he swore. When she'd called him up he'd been surprised. He hadn't expected her to call within two hours. But he agreed to meet her.

He thought about what she might say to him. _We're done. I don't want to see you again. I can't trust you. What else have you lied about?_ The phrases kept coming and his frown deepened with each thought. This was completely new territory to him. He had no idea what to expect, how to respond, anything.

Running his hands over his face he sighed and leaned back against the bench. He'd walked to the beach with her and had kept her at a distance. He told himself that he wasn't staying close because that's what he liked, but to keep an eye out for danger. They still had no idea who or what they were up against and who this person was after.

He checked his watch. He had five minutes to go before he was supposed to arrive. It seemed like it was going to take forever and usually calm and collected G. Callen, NCIS special agent, found himself shuffling his weight from one foot to the other and back again. _What is wrong with me?_ He thought as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

The name appeared on his screen, stared at him, no glared, but he didn't want to call her. Sam? Kensi? Deeks? Eric? Nell? He couldn't call any of them, they didn't understand him as well as she did. Sparing Emily a glance on the beach, he dialled the number and waited. "Is there a problem Mr Callen?"

He opened his mouth, trying to summon the words forward and settled for a small, "What do I say?" Mentally he kicked himself. She wouldn't know what he was talking about.

"The truth. Apologise, tell her the truth and ask her where you stand. Sometimes, the truth can be better then another lie."

"But Hetty-"

"Ask yourself this question Mr Callen; how much do you trust her?"

That was it. The line was dead and he was left alone against the beach wall, staring at the sea. How much did he trust her? He still wasn't a hundred percent sure, didn't know if he could answer that yet, but- He did trust her. At least somewhat.

Sucking it up, he stepped onto the beach and didn't stop until he was stood next to Emily. "Can I sit down?" She nodded without glancing up and he sat, knees bent and arms resting against his legs next to her. There was a moment of silence and he felt himself filling it, "Look, I understand if you're mad at me, if you can't trust me, but I-"

"Stop." Now she turned to him, finally connected her eyes with him and he saw a sign of understanding? In them. Content? Again, he found himself struggling to read her. "Callen," she stopped, ducked her head with a sigh and lifted it again. "I get it. Maybe. I'm not too sure, but what I am sure of, is- is that," again, she paused and he held his breath as he waited. She connected her gaze with his and held and this time, he could see the seriousness in her expression, the contentness with what she was about to say. "I don't want you to go."

He exhaled with relief and it was a moment or two before he was able to reply. "I, I don't want to lose you either."

"But-" she began. "I want to know if everything else was the truth."

Now she was scrutinising him, examining his expressions and he nodded firmly. "Everything else I've said has pretty much been the truth. I promise." Emily nodded at him now and turned her gaze away from him. There were a few silent minutes when Callen asked, "Where do I stand?"

This made her turn back to him, eyes uncertain. "I don't know. At least not yet."

He nodded and let his gaze settle on the horizon. One thing he knew was to not push things in certain cases and this was certainly one of those cases. Another buzz from his phone made him look down to see Sam's name across the screen. "One minute," he said as he answered it. "Go ahead."

"G, we got a problem. Crime lab found a fingerprint on the casing belonging to a Daniel Weston."


	22. Chapter 22

It took him a few moments to react, face turned in Emily's direction. Daniel was her brother. Daniel's fingerprints were found on a bullet from a gun used to shoot at them. "Okay," he said after a few moments. "Whe- where is he?"

"G," Sam cautioned and Callen adverted his gaze to the sand. "You've got to ask her."

He sighed. "I know." He put his phone away, glanced at Emily for a few silent seconds before he sighed once more and fixed his gaze on the waves. He'd just about gotten her to talk to him and now they needed to know what her brother was doing.

A lump formed in his throat. A large lump. After a few swallows it refused to move and he settled to have it there. After conjuring several sentences in his mind, he sighed, again, and turned to look at her. "Emily, do, do you know what my job is?" She only shrugged, eyes fixed on with curiosity. "NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Services."

"Okay."

He paused for a moment and sighed. "Daniel's in trouble. His fingerprint was found on a bullet used in an attempted shooting."

"Attempted shooting? Daniel? No."

Callen's lips formed a thin line as he tried to construct the sentences in his mind before speaking them. "I need you to tell me if he owns a rifle of any kind."

There was a moment of silence, her expression still that of being stunned as she looked at him and shook her head. "He did. It was stolen a few weeks ago. There's a report somewhere. Listen, Daniel wouldn't do anything, I swear."

"I know," he settled a hand on her arm. "I know, that's why I want to prove him innocent." That seemed to settle her some as she nodded and leaned into the touch ever so slightly. "I need to know where he is."

Again, Emily shrugged. "I don't know."

He nodded, accepted her answer and simply looked her over. "Listen, I should, probably get going."

"Just, don't hurt him."

Callen offered her a tight lipped smile. "I promise."

Resting a hand on her shoulder he gave it a small squeeze and got to his feet. If he were a marine looking to keep under the radar where would he go? He cast a faint look to Emily. Family was a start. But she didn't know where he was.

He sighed and decided to walk back to his car and drive back to Ops. He hoped they'd had more luck then him.

_Emily's POV_

She sighed. NCIS. Criminal investigative services. So, he short, he was a cop. For the military. She frowned. Part of her wanted to call Daniel up and ask him _why_ was he being looked into? But another part of her knew that something was wrong. Very wrong.

With a frown, she picked up her phone from out of the sand and dialled his number. And waited. And waited. It went to the answer phone. Her frown deepened and she tried his phone again. It went to voicemail once more and panic began to well in her stomach. Gathering her stuff up, she jumped to her feet and began a quick pace towards the direction of her apartment blocks. On the twenty minute walk, she kept trying her brother's phone, hoping that he would eventually pick up.

But he didn't.

Even when she reached her apartment, he still wasn't picking up. In the past, if her brother had every been on leave, he'd always pick up the phone at the latest on the third call. Never on the twentieth or the fiftieth.

When she opened the door she noticed a manila envelope on the floor. Something told her it wasn't going to be good, whatever was in that folder. She turned, scanned the floors, balconies and roads. What for, who for, she didn't know. But she picked the envelope up, hurried inside and locked the door. She sat down at the table, studied the envelope in her hands, twisting it over and over, as if it might bite her.

With a gulp and shaking hands, she opened the top of it and pulled out a single A4 photograph. She yelped. It was a picture of her and Callen on their surfboards in the ocean from that morning. A big red cross had been put through his face. She wanted to burn it, stamp on it, do something to pretend it didn't exist. Somebody knew about Callen, about their friendship and was threatening him.

She turned the picture over to find a quick, capitalized message on the back; GIVE US THE PEN DRIVE, HE AND DANIEL LIVES.


	23. Chapter 23

The unfortunate news was that the last footage they had of Daniel Weston was when he was spotted leaving a shopping mall mere minutes after Emily. Callen sighed. Emily swore that Daniel was innocent, that his weapon had been stolen. Eric was currently searching through police records for the report whilst Nell used Kaleidoscope to track Daniel's car.

At the moment, there was little for them to do but wait.

He stood, arms folded and eyes fixed to the screens, in silence. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Nell and Eric share a look with each other occasionally. Sam stood, his arms crossed too, eyes fixed on Callen, at the back of the room. He was worried about his partner. The man was on edge, mind focused too much on this shooter and not enough on just taking a step back. Not to mention Emily was involved in some way.

Sam couldn't figure it out either. Why shoot at her? She was a civilian with a brother who is in the Marines. Callen, very little people knew his real name, not to mention, he was sure that neither of them had been advertising their relationship.

He sighed.

There was something weird about this case, even he would admit it. But Daniel's fingerprint on a shell casing potentially having been used to shoot his sister? It didn't make sense.

Kensi and Deeks entered, shaking their heads. They'd been canvassing the area around the mall, asking shop owners if they'd seen anything suspicious or strange, if they'd seen Daniel's car. Anything. "Sorry," Deeks said.

Kensi nodded to Callen, still stood in front of the screens. "How's he doing?"

Sam shook his head. "Man's on a down path at this rate."

"So," Deeks said, keeping his voice low, "Someone took a shot at him? Do we know why?"

Again, Sam shook his head, "No idea."

"We got a hit on Daniel's car," Eric alerted, turning to face the team.

"At an old garage," Nell said, pulling up the cartography. "It turned in about an hour ago and hasn't left since."

"Address is on your phones," Eric said and Callen turned and nodded to Sam.

It was when they were seated, Callen driving, that Sam opened his mouth; "G, you cool?"

Callen nodded, "I'm cool Sam."

"I'm serious."

For a brief moment he turned his head towards his partner and a look passed between them. Sam read the look as Callen turned away. It meant one thing; _Keep an eye out_.

Five minutes later and they reached the garage. Guns drawn, with Kensi and Deeks backing them up, they headed towards the door. Deeks checked the car, cleared it, and they knocked on the door. The blind was down with a CLOSED sign. There was no answer and when he tried the handle, the door was open. To Sam, he counted to three, burst in and swept his gun across one side of the large open area. Sam swept the other side.

He got six steps in when he stopped.

There was a large open space, big enough for a car in need of repair to be. But there was no car. Instead, there were large drops of blood. And a lot of it. "Who do we think it belongs to?" Kensi asked, stopping by his side.

He shook his head. "Daniel's car is here, he isn't." He didn't finish it. The meaning was clear; his car was the only one here, yet he wasn't. Most likely circumstance was that _he_ was the victim.

Callen stared at the drops of blood for a few more moments before he turned on his feet and stepped away. He stepped out into the open air, towards his car and simply slammed his hands on the hood of it and stood there.

He ran through the pieces through his mind; he and Emily had been shot at, who the target was wasn't clear, Daniel's fingerprint on the shell casing, his gun reported missing weeks ago, Daniel's car abandoned outside a garage, possibly his blood on the floor. A sudden thought hit him; had Daniel given Emily something?

Whilst the thought was still in his mind, he brought his phone out, found her number and dialled? It was on the fifth ring that she picked up her voice a little quiet, "Hello?"

"Emily." He paused briefly before asking her, "Has Daniel given you anything? Anything at all?"

There was a moment's hesitation before she replied. Her voice was a little shaky as she said one word; "Y- Yeah."

He nodded, "Where are you?"

"At home."

Another nod, "I'm coming to you okay? Don't go anywhere."

"G," Sam called him from the door, a piece of paper in one hand and something else in his other. The former SEAL ran over to him and showed him the picture; it was of Emily and Callen in the doorway of her apartment. In his other hand he held out some C-4, wires and detonators.

His eyes went wide and he heard Emily ask, "Callen? You still there?"

"Emily," he said, "Get out. Now."


	24. Chapter 24

He held his breath.

The seconds ticked by slowly.

Sam stared, waiting for an answer.

Callen clenched his fist by his side, waiting still.

Then the line went dead.

"Emily?"

Nothing but a single tone met his ears.

Sam read his expression and jumped into the passenger seat as Callen got behind the wheel. They burnt tyre as he kicked the car into a high speed and dodged the vehicle through the traffic. Several times Sam shouted out his name, telling him to slow down just a little, they wanted to get there in one piece.

As they got nearer they could see tendrils of black disappear into the skies heights. The closer they got the darker and thicker the tendrils stretched. Callen turned three more corners and slammed his foot on the brakes. Fire engines, paramedics and police were already there, tackling a burning inferno and what they both knew was apartment number 17. "Emily," Callen slipped past his mouth and pushed the car door open, slammed it and began walking towards the block.

Sam followed behind. There were four ambulances and by the sound of the sirens, more were on their way. He didn't want to know how bad the explosion was. A trolley was wheeled past and Callen hastily checked the occupier; brunette men. He checked other people who were being attended by two paramedics.

None of them were Emily.

Callen rushed towards the police that were keeping civilians away, "Has anyone died?"

"I can't disclose that infor-"

"I'm an NCIS agent! Now tell me, did you pull a woman out of the fire?"

Sam laid a hand on the man's shoulder and pulled him back out of fear for the officer. The officer nodded, "Two bodies. An elderly woman and a mid-twenties male."

"Blonde haired late twenties, early thirties woman?" Callen asked, removing Sam's grip from his shoulder.

The man shook his head with a shrug, "I don't know. They're still clearing the building."

An explosion caused several people to duck, a new fire erupting fresh smoke up into the air. Sam lifted his head to see Callen push past the officer and into the courtyard. He pushed himself forward and grabbed G's arm. "G, stop."

The man turned, glaring, "She's in there Sam. I can't just-"

"What are you going to do? Her apartment's on fire? It's gone. If she was in there, I'm sorry G. I don't want to say it but, I'm sorry."

Callen turned his head back towards the burning apartment, his eyes glazing over. "I told her to get out."

"We need paramedics over here!" both Callen and Sam lifted their heads towards the fireman that had shouted out. He was a little ways into the courtyard, stood in one of the sections of thick greenery. In his arms was a body.

Two paramedics pushed Sam and Callen aside with a trolley bed. Sam kept a hold on Callen's arm, keeping him back. He could feel Callen trying to pull away, but he kept his hold. They watched the fireman put the body down onto the trolley, a wave of blonde reaching their eyes. They shared a look with one another and watched as the paramedics looked over the body, beginning instant medical aid.

Callen held his breath again, eyes fixed on the body. The paramedics were beginning chest compressions and he tried to take a step towards them as one of them continued with the compressions, the other pushing the trolley back towards the ambulance.

As they moved past, still delivering compressions, they glanced at the face. "Emily." Sam let him go then, letting him follow them towards the ambulance. "I'm a friend," he said to them, a silent question to accompany them.

"Get in, don't touch anything."

He nodded and sat on the bench. The paramedic stopped delivering chest compressions and attached a heart monitor to her chest. A faint pulse beeped from the screen and he watched the lines rise and fall.

By the time they reached the hospital, his hand had found hers and had squeezed it occasionally, trying to entice her eyes open. He was forced to let go of her hand as the paramedics pulled the trolley out and wheeled her into the hospital. He followed up until they'd reached the surgery. A nurse placed a hand on his arm, causing him to completely stop and turn his head to face her, "I'm sorry Sir, you can't go in there."

He nodded and stepped back with a sigh. There was nothing he could do besides wait.


	25. Chapter 25

It was a good hour before a female doctor appeared. Callen hadn't sat down once since he'd arrived, had stood around waiting, pacing the corridor back and forth from one wall to another. "Are you the man who came in with her?"

He nodded, "How is she?"

"It was very hit and miss for a while but we managed to stabilise her. She's been placed in ICU and will be unconscious I'm afraid."

"For how long?"

"We don't know."

He nodded his head in understanding. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded with a soft smile and turned down the corridor. They walked past a few doors until they came to the ICU ward. The doctor pushed the door open and guided him to a curtained bed. "We're hoping we're able to move her soon, she suffered some pretty serious internal injuries I'm afraid."

Callen only nodded and waited until the doctor left him alone before venturing beyond the curtain. Emily lay, a breathing tube down her throat and an IV attached to her left arm. There were many monitors surrounding her showing various things.

He sighed as he collapsed into the only chair in the small space. He ran a hand over his face as he looked her over. There were bandages wrapped around her right shoulder and arm and one across her forehead.

Nothing but the sound of machines beeping and nurse milling around could be heard and he sat silently. He felt helpless. In the space of a day, he'd gone from enjoying her company to fearing for her life.

A glance at his watch told him it was nearing midnight now and he sighed. He needed to do something, couldn't sit around and wait for her to wake up. When the curtain drew back he sat himself up straighter in his seat and stared at the intruder. When he saw her face he relaxed and offered Hetty a tight lipped smile. "Hetty," he said.

"How is she?"

He shook his head. "Stable. At least."

She stopped next to his chair and stood quietly with him, just looking over Emily's body. "I had Nell look into her."

He turned to stare at her, half offended half curious. The curious side won out and he nodded. "What did you find?"

Now Hetty looked at him, a look of slight concern across her features. "She's lived a pretty normal life. Nothing that sticks out as to why she would be the intended target of a bomber." He could hear the 'except' at the end of that sentence and waited expectantly. "Her brother seems to play an important factor Mr Callen."

He nodded. "She said he's innocent."

"Well wouldn't you if you had a brother and they were accused of attempted murder?" After a moment he nodded, again. It was beginning to be a recurring motion. "The members of your team are concerned for you, should I tell them where you are?"

It was a moment before he shook his head. He didn't need the extra attention of concerned friends. What he needed was for them to do their job and find out where Daniel was and if he was even still alive. They also needed to know what Emily had that was important. He sighed. "Hetty, what am I supposed to do?"

"That decision, Mr Callen, is something you need to come up with on your own."

"We don't have many leads, no clues to who is doing this."

"Then might I suggest talking to her every member of her family." She pulled a file from her bag and handed it to him. "In my opinion, I would suggest you begin with the last one." She uttered nothing more and turned, leaving him in the company of nothing but the faint beeping sounds. He quirked a brow and waited until she'd gone before flicking through the file. Pictures of her people from the same picture that Emily had perched on her bookcase. Except for the last one. He looked at the picture more closely, the man seemed vaguely familiar.

After several scrutinizing minutes, his eyes widened as he realized he'd seen the man exiting Emily's apartment. They'd been arguing about something and she had insisted it was nothing. He paid careful attention to this file and looked at his relationship to Emily. The criminal record went on for an entire page; extortion, suspected murder, terrorising people, blackmail, kidnapping, assault and the list went on.

When he looked at the relationship part, his eyes widened even further. The man, named James Lowden, was Emily's biological father. Apparently, he'd been forced to give Emily up under the pretence that he and her mother were unsuitable parents. As he looked over the file he realised that the file had been hidden and Hetty must've pulled some strings in order to get the original document.

Unfortunately, the man had no current address.

Grabbing his phone he called Sam and said, "Sam, get Eric and Nell to run the name James Lowden. Look for known places, known associates and any records in his name."

"Who is he?"

"Emily's father."


	26. Chapter 26

Sam sighed. The name that Callen had given them was doing little to help with their case. James Lowden was off the radar. His last run in with the police was over a year ago, soon after he was let out for a technicality in his trial. The man was now a ghost and they had no clues has to how to find him.

"Kensi, Deeks, you two go talk to Emily's parents, I'll talk to the sister."

They nodded and left, muttering to each other and he followed soon after. He'd told them who Emily was when Callen had gone to the hospital, told them about his little meetings with her. Whilst both had been surprised by his ability to get along with a stranger, they'd accepted it and agreed to find out who'd go out of their way to try to kill her.

The forensic reports for the explosion in her apartment came back with nothing more than C-4 rigged to the gas line with a timer. He shook his head as he climbed into his car. He hoped that someone knew something and soon. He didn't want to know what Callen would do if they didn't get answers and fast.

_Callen POV_

His fingers twitched against the arms of the chair, eager to be doing something. His knee jumped up and down, the same neediness resonating through them. One thing he told himself was that he wouldn't sleep until he caught the guy who was behind this. The sound of footsteps just outside of the curtain made him lift his eyes and wait.

The person that pulled it back was the last person he expected to see. "Lowden," he said.

The man gave a scowl before closing the curtain behind himself. "You're the guy she's been seeing." It was a statement that didn't require an answer, but he nodded, eyes fixed on the older man. "She never did tell me your name."

"What are you doing here?"

James offered him a chuckle. "I'm here to see my daughter; I thought that much was obvious."

Callen glared and stood to stand on the other side of Emily's bed. "Are you responsible for this?"

This time the man glared and a growl entered his voice, "Why would I want to kill my own daughter? Hell I chased whoever tried to shoot her."

His eyes widened at that comment. "That was you? So you got a good look at the shooter?"

James nodded and stood next on the other side of Emily. He looked down at her with a sad smile and took her hand in his. "Some guy who'd been in the army, navy or some such."

"Did you see a uniform?"

He shook his head. "No. But he had that look about him, like he'd seen stuff ya'know. The bad kind. I've seen that look several times when I've looked in the mirror, a man can recognise that a mile away."

Nothing but the sound of machines filled the space between them. Callen let the beeps surround him for a few moments before adverting his gaze to Emily's face. She seemed almost peaceful, unaware of what was going on around her. "What makes you say military rather than criminal?"

The meaning was clear; was it someone getting back at James on a more personal level? Callen felt eyes stare at him, question him and scrutinize him. "Trust me boy, if anyone were to get back at me through her, they'd be dead before they tried. He nodded but kept his gaze down.

"Would you recognise him if you saw him again?"

He lifted his gaze to meet the older man's, who nodded. "Yeah, I would. Hell, I gave him a black eye when I got hold of him."

"Nothing more?"

He shrugged. "Didn't get the chance to when his friends showed up."

"Friends?" That was another interesting comment. "Did you ever keep tabs on Daniel? Her brother?"

He nodded. "I always tried to when he came back from a tour."

"He's a Marine."

"Likely chance the guys who took him are too."

"Any idea why?"

James shook his head. "Wish I knew." Callen nodded. Something about the man seemed to put him at ease. It may've been the fact that he'd looked out for Emily without her knowledge, had gone out of his way to keep her safe.

"Tell me," one thing still plagued his mind. "What would she have that somebody in the Marines would want?"

James shrugged, "You tell me."

Callen stared at the man, a silent stand-off. James didn't move his gaze away from his but quirked one eyebrow as though challenging the man to call him a liar. Instead, Callen asked, "Can I trust you to take care of her while I catch the men who did this?"

"You have my word, I won't let any more harm come to her."

He nodded, still refusing to let his gaze fall. It was only when a nurse entered, a bag of clothes in hand did he remove his gaze. He frowned at the clothes. Maybe…. He thanked the nurse, grabbed the bag and looked through to pockets of the jeans. In one of the pockets he pulled out a pen drive and a look of relief crossed his face. He dragged his phone out of his pocket and nodded to Lowden once more. A silent truce had been formed between them, at least until the case was over.

In the car park he dialled Nell's number. "Nell, I need you to pick me up from California Hospital Medical centre. There's something I want you and Eric to look at."

"I'm on my way."


	27. Chapter 27

He handed the pen drive to Nell and followed her into Ops. Crossing his arms and perching himself against the table, he watched the screen, waiting to see what would turn up on it. The folder for it opened and he watched as Eric clicked the first document.

He frowned.

It didn't make sense. The document was just a mix of letters and numbers. "Is it possible the data got corrupted from the explosion?"

"There is a possibility," Eric said. "But the drive's intact and the names of the files appear correct."

"Open another document." The next five documents they opened resulted in the same similar documents, just a mixture of letters and numbers once more. "Eric."

"My guess," Nell said.

"Encrypted," both of the tech analysts said at the same time.

"The encryption code is probably on her laptop," Eric said, turning in his seat to face the agent. "We could try to crack it."

"But something like this, the code could be anything and near impossible to crack," Nell finished.

Callen sighed. He thought that for once they were getting somewhere. For a few silent minutes, he stared at the screen, at the file names and the document names. With a frown, he recalled the night Emily had kicked him out early after receiving an email from her brother. "Eric, can you get into her emails?"

Both analysts shared a look with each other before nodding and turning back to the controls. It was a few moments before a list of emails erupted on the screen. "That one," he pointed to the last email she'd received from Daniel.

He watched as a downloading screen jumped up, appeared for a minute or two then disappeared. The documents popped back up to the front and were now made from complete actual sentences. "Guys?"

"It must've been an automatic download when we opened the email."

Callen over two documents that appeared to copy each other, apart from a few discrepancies. He frowned as he asked Eric and Nell to switch to another document. A few documents later and he frowned. "Nell, I want you to check which Marine teams are on leave. Search for a Staff Sergeant Norris. See where he and his group are at."

"On leave here in Los Angeles and have been for the past week."

"Was Daniel Weston a part of his group?"

"Yep."

"Do any of them have experience with explosive devices?"

Eric answered this time, "Staff Sergeant Norris does himself."

Callen nodded and pulled out his phone, dialling Sam's number. "Find out where he is and his family, hey Sam? We need to go talk to a Staff Sergeant Norris." When he hung on the man, agreeing to meet him at Norris' place, he turned to Eric and Nell. "I want you two to go through those documents, find out what you can."

"Already on it," was Eric's response.

When he reached his car his phone buzzed with an address for Norris and some details; divorced, ex-wife won custody of their only son. He drove in the direction of his house and was greeted with the sight of Sam's car in front of him. Callen stepped out of his car and joined Sam on the sidewalk. "Daniel was a member of Norris' platoon. They're all on leave at the moment and Norris has experience in explosives."

"I guess we just got our number one suspect then."

"Yep."

They reached the door and Sam knocked on. Callen took a peek through one of the windows and frowned. There was no movement inside. "Staff Sergeant Norris? NCIS agents Hanna and Callen." Sam knocked on once more and waited. "Mr Norris?"

Callen tried the handle and found it open.

He spared a look with Sam and entered, gun drawn. Sam followed as they quietly entered the house. Callen was in the kitchen when Sam called him from the bathroom. He found him staring at Staff Sergeant Norris' body, dumped in the tub with three bullets in his chest. The two agents spared a look with each other and sighed. Callen called it in.

"We better run down everybody else in the platoon."

Callen nodded in agreement, "I'll get Eric to send Kensi and Deeks half of the list, and we'll look at the other half."

Sam agreed and Callen called Eric, told him the news and told him the plan that they were going to use. "You take two I'll take the other two?"

"You got it," Sam said and climbed into his car and Callen climbed into his. An hour later and Callen made his way back to Ops. His two suspects had alibis. When Sam met him outside, the larger man was shaking his head. "One of them has alibied out, the other didn't answer."

When they reached the bullpen it was to see Hetty waiting for them. "You'll be glad to know that Miss Weston has been moved to a regular ward. She has already awoken and, if I remember correctly, asked for you Mr Callen to, "Find Daniel or I'm kicking your arse." I believe that is what she said."

Callen couldn't help the smile that twitched the corner of his mouth.

That smile didn't last long as Kensi and Deeks entered, "We got zero on two of the guys," Deeks said.

"Yeah, and the other two had solid alibis; visiting family," Kensi elaborated.

"Well," Eric interrupted, walking towards them with his wireless mouse and computer. "Me and Nell found several discrepancies."

"Many supplies requested weren't used or were misplaced somehow."

"What Daniel gave his sister was the original order forms for supplies and doctored order forms to send to back with the final paperwork."

"The missing supplies we've discovered could be used to make several bombs and a large variety of them."

"But," Eric said with a sigh. "We believe they've been sold to Iranians and Pakistanis." Callen frowned. Their own people were making and selling bombs to the enemy.


	28. Chapter 28

Silence stood around the team. An awkward but shocked one. Norris appeared to fake requisition forms to gather enough supplies to sell American explosives to their enemies. From the lack of sight of four others, Callen assumed that they were a part of it too. But was Daniel? Who killed Norris and why? "What are the teams financials like?"

Eric typed away for a minute before bringing up several pages of bank statements. "Each of the missing men has received $10,000 within the last year. Some of them were struggling, Norris himself was in a lot of debt."

"What about Daniel Weston?"

Nell shook her head, "He was fine and stable. Nothing outstanding, no questionable deposits."

Callen nodded his head, a wave of relief rushing through him at those words. Daniel wasn't involved. So did he stumble upon what was going on? He shook his head. Where was he? What were they doing to him?

Where should they begin to look?

With a sigh he began to brainstorm. They wouldn't be likely to be on base or with family. In fact, they would be running, or at least he would be in their shoes. "Check flight records, last minute bookings in their names."

"Okay." Eric said as he began to type away. "We got two Petty Officers, Daws and Robinson, booked on a flight from LAX to Mexico in twenty minutes. Gate 15."

"Send us their pictures," Sam said as the team turned and made a dash for their cars. "Kensi, Deeks, when we arrive you two head straight for the gate, make sure that that plane does not take off," he said on the phone to them.

"Got it," Deeks said.

The fifteen minute journey to the Airport was a quiet one and Sam glanced at his partner. The man seemed pensive in thought, a little too occupied by the fast driving through traffic. "We'll get these guys G."

Callen spared him a look before nodding once. It wasn't much but it was enough to tell Sam that Callen was holding himself back from doing something he may regret. When they arrived, in a flurry of beeping horns, they slammed their doors shut, showed their badges to people to get them to move out of the way and grabbed their phones to show the pictures to security. They took a look at the photos, at their badges and agreed to help them search for the two Officers.

Sam and Callen, along with three guards, reached the screening area and let Deeks and Kensi carry on to the gate to try to stop the plane. They searched the lines, photo still open on their phones as they looked from picture to person.

Neither Daws nor Robinson were in line. They turned to the security officers and Sam said, "Keep an eye out in case they're late."

The security officers nodded, one of them trailing behind Callen and Sam as the two moved past the scanners and towards the waiting area. They spotted Kensi and Deeks on the other side of the room, talking to the calling attendant. Callen let his eyes roam slowly over the waiting crowd. He ignored the women, ignored the children, the older men and the younger teenagers. He looked back to the photos and stared at a few of the men. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sam, Kensi and Deeks looking in the same generic direction as him; at two men who wanted it to appear as though they didn't know each other. Body language, open to each and the odd eye contact that told conversations.

Callen lifted his gaze away to nod to his team mates. They nodded back and advanced towards the men in question, not a word needing to be uttered between them. Staring at the men he advanced around them, trying to block any exits out for the two men. The men looked up at them and they became spooked. They dropped their bags and ran, one past Callen the other past Sam. "Deeks get their bags!"

"On it!"

"Sam!"

"I got him!"

People shoved the floor and Callen had to jump over bags in order to keep up, dodge past people and try his best to keep up with the man. "NCIS! Daws! Hold it!"

Daws glanced over his shoulder, turned back and ran around the corner. Callen pumped his legs faster, turned the corner and saw the man not too far ahead of him. "Daws!" That made the man peer over his shoulder once more, giving Callen enough time to speed up that little bit extra, allowing him to jump and grab Daws, pinning the man to the ground. He withdrew a pair of handcuffs and put them on Daws' wrist. "You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Emily Weston, the kidnapping of Daniel Weston and the murder of Staff Sergeant Norris."

Roughly, he shovelled Daws along to his car, meeting Sam. "It wasn't me! I swear."

Callen turned the man around and slammed his back against the car. "Then tell me who it was!"

Daws opened his mouth to reply, but clamped it shut a moment later. A quick burst of emotion spilled a name; "Robinson. Norris said he would take care of Emily, Robison kidnapped Daniel, beat him up."

"And what? You just watched?"

"I had to! I had to keep my mouth shut!"

Callen delivered the man a glared before he opened the car door and shoved him inside, slamming the door after him. Sam shared a look with him. "I'll drive." He nodded and moved to the passenger seat. The ride back to the boat shed was silent and Sam beat Callen to the back seat and to their perp. "I got this."

"Sam-"

"Cal, I got this." The meaning was clear, that Sam didn't trust him not to keep it wholly together. Callen nodded and stood, watching the interrogation on a screen.


	29. Chapter 29

Callen watched, arms folded, through the cameras as Sam handled one suspect and Kensi and Deeks worked the other one together. "I should be in there," he muttered as he stared at the one Sam was talking to. Daws kept repeating the same few lines to Sam; _It wasn't me. It Norris' idea. He had bills to pay. He didn't think anybody would get hurt. Can I strike a deal? I want a deal. _

After the fifteenth repeated line of in the hour; "I want a deal," Callen sighed, dropped his arms and stormed into the room Sam was in.

Frown in place, a slight growl in his voice, he pushed past Sam, grabbed Daws by the shirt front and pulled him to his feet. He pushed the man against the wall, a death glare in his expression. "You're going to tell me everything you know! Right now!"

"I- I want a de- deal."

Callen brought the man's body forward and slammed it back against the wall. "No deal! Not until you tell me who was shooting who, who killed who, and why!"

"Callen!"

Sam's voice made him pause for a moment, the sternness letting him know that this wasn't keeping his cool. That this was the reason that Sam had agreed to take the interrogation. "Sam."

There was a moment of silence before Sam spoke again, eyes fixed snugly on Daws, "I thought we agreed to wait until we had a little more information."

Callen thought a moment before shaking his head, glare still in place. "Change of plans. We know you and your friends murdered Norris. We know that you all kidnapped Daniel Weston. We know that somebody tried to kill his sister. Twice! A civilian! What kind of Marine's think killing civilians is a good idea?"

"It wasn't supposed to go that far!"

"Who killed Norris?"

"Robinson!"

"Why?"

"Because Norris wanted to kill Weston!"

"Which one?"

"Daniel. None of us wanted to, he'd had our back in Iraq."

"Where is he?" Another loud yell, another slam against the wall. Daws seemed to think it over for a moment, causing Callen to yell, "Where is he? Right now!"

"McNeill's basement! We needed somewhere-"

Callen dropped the man, turned and left. Sam grabbed the pen and paper off the desk, put it in Daws' hands and told him to write the address, he ripped it off and Sam followed behind Callen and called his name several times. On the third call Callen turned around and stared at the man. "What?"

"He can press charges."

"We're on a timer here Sam. For all we know, Daniel could be bleeding to death."

"And I get that, but there was a reason I was conducting the interview."

"He wasn't telling us anything."

"G," there was a moment of silence that passed between them. It was at this moment that Kensi and Deeks walked in, heads turning from one man to the other. They could practically taste the tension in the air between the two friends. A few seconds later and Callen sighed, a resided nod following it. "Let's go. I'll take charge," Sam said. "Kensi, Deeks, Staff Sergeant Weston is at McNeill's house."

"Alright." Called said as he followed Sam out of the boat shed and towards the car. He knew that Hetty would be having a word with him when she found out what had transpired in that room, but for now, he focused all of his attention of finding Daniel Weston and capturing the rest of Daws' team. McNeill's house was almost two hours away, just over one hour away if they put the gas down.

The pulled up, jumped out with guns at the ready and Sam had to run to beat Callen to the front door. The last thing he wanted was Callen looking for revenge. Hell, man angers his partner on a good day, the guy would go looking head first. But they'd angered him on a bad day, over his girl. Sam sighed. Yep, he was calling Emily Callen's girl. But the man was pissed, five years of being partners and he could tell, underneath that calm exterior was a man wanting some payback.

Sam nodded to Kensi and Deeks to go around back whilst he knocked on the door, "McNeill? NCIS open up!" They heard voices behind the door and gunshots came through the door and windows. Sam ducked out of the way whilst Callen ducked underneath the window. "Window."

"Got it," Callen said as he stuck his head up. More shots were fired and Callen ducked his head for a moment before he brought his gun up and fired three shots off through the window. Sam kicked the door in, backed away as gunshots were fired at the open doorway and Callen shot twice more through the window, the slugs hitting the target's chest.

Sam moved into the house and swept one side of the room. Callen swept the other side and both ventured further into the house, meeting Kensi and Deeks in the hallway. One set of stairs went up and there was a door that Callen assumed lead to the basement. "Kensi, Deeks, upstairs, Sam."

"Got it." Sam checked the handle and found it open. Nodding his head to Callen he twisted the handle and slowly pushed the door open. He couldn't see a light switch near the walls but a faint light at the bottom of the stairs let him realise they twisted to the left. They spared each other a glance before Sam advanced down the stairs first.

When he reached the bottom he swept the room, double checked that nobody was hiding as Callen went over to Daniel's body. He was tied up with rope, hands bound behind him and bound to his feet. "Daniel," Callen said as he checked for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak. "Sam, call an ambulance."

"Already on it."

Callen immediately started cutting the rope and doing a quick check of the Marine for his wounds. His side was stained along with his chest, left leg and right arm. "Daniel? Daniel Weston? My name's Special Agent Callen, can you hear me?"

"Nghmf," was all Callen heard from the man.

"Open your eyes for me. Come on."

"Em."

"Emily's fine."

"Good." His words were slurred and his voice a whisper, but Callen couldn't help the smile he lifted. Daniel was alive, Emily was well and the case was pretty much solved. And he still had his job. His only job at the moment was keeping Daniel awake until the Ambulance showed up.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: **This story shall be ending soon I'm afraid. There may be sequels and follow-on's – if you have any in mind feel free to ask for them. But, until the end of this story, enjoy what's left.

Emily had been in and out of consciousness since he'd last seen her. Her brother was the same. Callen had paced the corridors outside of both of their rooms. Their parents had arrived soon after Callen had left to hand Eric and Nell the pen drive, and they hadn't left since. He'd managed to tell them he was NCIS and that had given them all the reason they needed to let him stay.

When her parents had slipped out into Daniel's room, Callen slipped into Emily's room and immediately sat down in the seat next to her bed. He hadn't seen Lowden since he'd left the man to watch over Emily in the hospital. He wasn't completely sure he wanted to see him again.

For now, he pushed those thoughts from his mind and wrapped one hand around Emily's. He gave it a gentle squeeze, a quiet encouragement to wake up and stay awake. After a few quiet moments with no hint of stirring from her he sighed. He had hoped that he could tell her there was nothing more to worry about. They had the information that Daniel had found; proof that his friends had been selling American materials that were used for bombs. It was to make some extra money that they thought they deserved after being overseas for so long.

The reason they'd tried to take her life was because she had that information in front of her, because she had the resources to out them to the world. She had been seen as a threat to them, to their extra income. "Cal?" It was a whisper, strained and painful, almost disbelieving of what she was saying.

"Em?"

"What?"

"Hey," he whispered, hoping his quiet voice would entice her to open her eyes.

Emily blinked her eyes open and stared at him. He offered her a calm smile, this time, it reached his eyes as he studied her expression. It softened and she shuffled to lie on her side and face him. She kept her hand in his and smiled tiredly at him. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, forcing a small laugh from his chest. "That well huh?" Emily pulled her tongue back in and opened her eyes, her smile growing ever so slightly. Callen simply stared, a smile on his face. There were no words to describe how happy he was that she was awake, alive, smiling and still making him laugh. "Daniel's recovering and we caught the guys."

Emily only nodded and settled her head into the pillow. "Good."

There was a moment before he considered not telling her his next set of words, but he did anyway, "I met your Dad by the way." At her blank stare he decided to reiterate, "Your biological father." That made her eyes widened and he shook his head, holding one hand up. "It's fine, he seems like a decent guy. I don't know where he is now."

She bit her lower lip and seemed a little distracted by his revelation. "Callen."

He shook his head, "Just worry about getting better."

The door opened then and Callen retrieved his hand and looked up. Emily's mother stood in the doorway and Callen stood up. "Ma'am."

"Agent Callen."

There was an awkward moment as Callen looked between her and Emily. Emily turned over and smiled up at her mother. "Hey mum."

"Emily, you're awake."

"I'll leave you two alone," Callen said.

"Okay," Emily said and he offered a soft smile before leaving the two to talk amongst each other.

When he reached the hallway he saw Hetty sat down on one of the plastic chairs. With a sigh he took a seat next to her and leant forward, elbows on knees and hands clasped together. "Hetty."

"Mr Callen, Staff Sergeant Daws is claiming that you assaulted him during an interrogation."

"I have no idea what he's talking about."

After a silent moment he turned to face the older woman, a slight smirk twitching the corners of his mouth. "Neither does Mr Hanna and the camera feed seems to have been disrupted. It's a shame there's no way to prove his allegations, I imagine he would have come out the victor."

"Hmm, if it had happened."

"Only if," Hetty said and Callen could tell she was smirking too, or at least wanted to. "How is Miss Weston doing?"

"She's in and out of it but she should make a full recovery."

"Good." The smaller woman got to her feet and offered Callen an intense gaze. "After all, you've seemed so much happier since you've met her. I always knew a woman could change a man like you Mr Callen."

"Hetty," Callen said with a slight narrowing of his eyes. "Are you suggesting that I'm a miserable man?"

Hetty shrugged, "Well, you have been smiling more and laughing a lot more. You've even taken to whistling more than usual."

"I didn't realise whistling meant I was happy."

"Oh you'll be surprised Mr Callen." The older woman offered him a smirk before she dug through her bag and withdrew a small selection of papers. "Now, I believe Miss Weston will be looking for a new apartment. I believe these are within her price ranges." Callen took the papers and looked at her with a questioning gaze. It held all the questions he wanted to ask and Hetty smirked. "She's a lovely young girl who's had the misfortune of a brother who did his job. Not to mention how much she's had to put up with you. The least I could was give her a head start."

He smiled at the woman with a soft smirk. "Thank you Hetty."

"You help her get settled Mr Callen." She offered no more words of advice or instruction as she turned and left him then.

He stuck around for a few more hours until Emily's family went home; happy that neither Daniel nor Emily were bound to bite it during the night, and left the two to recuperate. When she'd had a few minutes to herself he opened the door as quietly as possible and closed it in the same manner. She was already sleeping. Quietly, he sunk down into the chair and put the papers Hetty had given him onto the night stand.

For the first time in over a day, he felt himself relax and stretched his feet in front of him, crossed his arms and let himself close his eyes and just rest. When he opened his eyes again Emily was sat up in bed, right arm bandaged up in a sling and a pen propped in her hand. In her left hand he noted the papers he'd put down last night. "You're awake."

"So are you," she said, eyes on the papers. After a moment she jotted something down, a little awkwardly and looked up at him. "Where did you get these?"

Callen pulled himself up in his seat and wiped a hand over his face. "What time is it?"

"About four in the morning."

He frowned and woke his mind up. "What are you doing up at this time?"

She shrugged and jotted more things down on the page. "I haven't been sleeping right since, well, since you know."

He nodded and leaned forward in his seat. He pointed to the papers and said, "A friend of mine thought you'd appreciate a helping hand."

"Tell them I said thank you."

"Will do. Have you found any?"

Again she shrugged and offered him the bottom piece. "Maybe this one. It doesn't seem too far away and it sounds nice. I'll have to wait until I'm out of here before I can look."

"If you need a hand with anything, I'll happily help you."

Emily smiled softly at him and nodded gently. "Thanks." He remained awake with her, talking about what she was going to do when she got out of the hospital, about how her brother would die if he didn't get out soon too. It was at the end of this conversation that the door opened and Daniel limped in with a grin on his face. "Daniel."

"Well look at you sis. I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

"You had no idea."

"No but I should've thought."

"Shut up and sit down before you collapse." Callen smirked at the order she'd given her brother. Somehow it seemed appropriate that she would demand Daniel to sit down, seemed fitting that he was a witness to this small banter between them. "I thought I told you not to get into trouble."

"And as I said to you, too late for that." Daniel's eyes flicked over to Callen's and he frowned. "Nice to meet you."

"Special Agent Callen. Nice to meet you in person now that you're awake."

"You too," the man nodded and turned his gaze to Emily. "How long?"

Emily threw a punch with her left hand then waved her hand with a wince, grabbed at her right shoulder. "Shut up."

Daniel laughed and looked over towards Callen, "As long as I know somebody's looking out for you." Again, Emily threw a punch and winced. "Stop doing that would you?"

"Then shut up."

Callen shook his head and got to his feet. "I'll leave you two alone." With that he closed the door behind himself, looked through the window and smiled kindly at the banter he could tell was going on between the two of them.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: **Okay, so I've had some of you tell me you want a sequel…. So I may have to do one at a later point. Remember, I await your opinions and enjoy this chapter.

Two days later, whilst he was doing paperwork in the pen, he got a call. Glancing at the ID he perked up at the sight of Emily's name on the screen and stood. He moved down the corridor and out of earshot as he answered it. "Hey, are they letting you out of the hospital now?"

"Yeah, finally." There was a pause and he frowned. She had something to say, something to ask him. "Callen?"

"Yeah?"

"Can, can we talk?"

He stood, one hand on his hip and the other holding the phone tightly to his ear. "Yeah, I can talk. Now or?"

There was another pause and he felt a small pool of worry begin to collect in the pit of his stomach. Something was troubling her. "When are you free?"

"Erm," he looked at his watch, "I get a break in about an hour."

"Okay. Meet me at the beach?"

Callen frowned but nodded to himself and pushed the negative thoughts away. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you then?"

"Bye." That was the only word she said before hanging up on him. He stared at the phone for a few moments, trying to dissect what she may have been hinting at, but he couldn't figure it out. Couldn't conjure up a reason for her wanting to meet him, for wanting to talk. He sighed. There was nothing to figure out until he met with her. As he made his way back to his desk, he settled straight back into work, ignoring any looks the others were giving him.

He could feel the arched brows of Deeks, the smirk of Kensi's lips and the smile Sam wore. With a sigh, he leaned back in his seat and looked around at the three of them. "Okay, get it out."

"Get what out?" Sam asked.

"No idea what you're talking about," Kensi said.

"Emily huh," Deeks said. "She's not quite a car is she?"

Callen frowned his eyes at Deeks with a smirk. "Are you jealous Deeks?"

That adverted attention away from him and onto the cop who had a hint of insult about him. "And why would I be jealous?"

Callen shrugged with a smirk. "Because I can hold onto girls for longer than an hour."

Both Kensi and Sam sniggered at the comment and Deeks only laughed to brush the comment off. "Please, I can hold onto a girl for longer than an hour. Just look at Kensi."

Kensi stared at the man, "Excuse me?"

"Oh please, we all know you adore me in some way."

"Oh yeah," she said. "I adore the fact that you scream like a girl whenever a bee flies within the vicinity of you."

"Hey those things can hurt you know. And I'm allergic to bees!"

"It's wasps that sting," Sam said with a shake of his head, going back to his work. Callen went back to his own work until his break came up. He asked his team if they wanted anything, to which he remembered the orders and left. It was a ten minute drive to the beach and when he arrived he froze two steps away from his car.

Emily sat on the wall, eyes cast to the ground. A loose skirt that touched just past her knees gently breathed around her. A lump caught in his throat and he sucked it up and advanced towards her. Without a word he sat down on the wall next to her and simply looked at the ocean. There was a moment of silence between them and he sighed, turned his head in her direction and said, "Is everything okay?"

She looked up at him then, a soft smile in place. She nodded. "Yeah." After a moment she sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Callen."

"Hmmm," he looked down at her head and waited, watching and just leaving her to do what she wanted to do or say.

"I still like you."

The smile that broke out did so without his knowledge and he wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "I like you too." As if to prove a point he placed a gentle kiss to her head and felt her nuzzle further into his side.

They remained like that for several minutes, just taking in each other's presence. Emily moved first, sitting up to look at him. "I'm moving into a new apartment in two days. Do you want to help?"

For a moment he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what was normal in this kind of situation. It was exactly the kind of thing he had avoided his entire life. But he found himself nodding with a lump in his throat. "Sure. I'll help. What stuff are you moving?"

Emily shrugged with a small smile on her face. "Well I don't exactly have much do I? Thankfully I'll have a new laptop and my parents have said they'll buy me a new sofa. So, it's a start I guess." The small laugh she let loose made him wince on the inside. In one night all of her personal belongings had been burnt, literally. A guy like him could live with such a thing, had done for his entire life, but for somebody who'd already settled themselves into a normal life, he couldn't imagine it.

"I'm sorry about what happened. If there was anything I could do-"

"But you couldn't," she told him and he sighed. "Callen, it's fine. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anybody's fault but those guys who were supposed to be Daniel's friends. Don't, don't apologise."

After a moment he nodded. "Okay. I'll help you move whatever you have into your new apartment."

"Thank you."

He nodded with a smile and looked at his watch. "Listen, I should probably be getting back. Is there anything you need?"

It was a moment of consideration before Emily shook her head. "No, I'm fine. My Mum's picking me up in a short while."

"I can drive you?"

Emily looked at him for a few silent seconds before nodding. "Only if you're sure."

"I wouldn't have offered otherwise." He saw a smile grace her lips and smiled back at her. "Come on." For the time being she was staying with her parents and on the way to their house he'd stopped and picked up what everybody had wanted. When they arrived at her parents' house he offered her a kind smile. He watched as she grabbed the handle on the door and found himself wanting to reach out to her. "Emily."

She turned; the door open a crack and observed him. He found himself staring. He nodded his head in a silent, 'come here' look and waited until she'd leaned close enough before pressing his mouth against hers. It was a brief contact and when he pulled away he found her cheeks tinted pink, a slight blush. He was smiling at her, warmly, and watched her smile back with a nod and leave. He waited until she was inside before pulling away.

When he returned to Ops his smile was still in place and everybody only smirked at him with a shake of their heads.

Two days passed by quickly and Hetty had given him the afternoon off to help Emily move in with the few things she owned. When he arrived at the address she'd given him, it was to see her and a van for hire man talking to one another. Emily passed him a smile as he approached, "Hey, you made it."

"I said I would." He turned his gaze to the man driving the van and pointed to the back, "Shall we?" The next hour was spent with him and the driver hefting a two seater couch, a small table, a couple of lamps and a bed into a downstairs apartment. The man waved the two off as he drove away, the van empty. She'd told him that her brother was still unfit to help lift things and her Dad couldn't get time off from work for that day. "Is that all?"

Emily shrugged. "My Dad said he'll come up later with a few bits and bobs for me but I've ordered a few things that should arrive soon. Hopefully."

Callen nodded. "That's good. Do you need anything else?"

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Is there a chance you could help me buy some groceries?" She was pulling a pouty mouth with him and batting her eyelashes and he laughed. This caused her to laugh and she waved him off. "I'm kidding. You've been extremely helpful."

"If you're sure. Can I come round one day?"

Emily nodded and smiled, "Sure."

He nodded back and turned to leave, "Until that day, goodbye."

"Goodbye Callen."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: **I know, I know. This is overdue. I'm sorry! I'm also sorry that this story doesn't have many chapters left.

It was one week later when Callen was finally able to get a chance to visit Emily. When he arrived she looked as though she'd only just woken up. The sleepy smile she wore only made him smile and he held up the bag he'd brought with him. "I brought you a present."

"Callen-" she whined but he waved her off.

"No arguments. Besides, it's just a small something to help you pass your time." Emily sighed and stepped aside, letting him in. Now was the first moment he had to properly take in the apartment. It was a small hallway before they reached a room. Three pairs of shoes were lined against the wall of the apartment and two jackets hung on the wall above them.

"Shoes off," she said and he quirked a brow at her smirk. "What? I don't want to have to clean the floor from muddy footprints just yet." He laughed and nodded, removed his shoes and put them next to hers. He shook off his jacket and stuck that on a hook too.

As he picked his bag back up he followed her further into the apartment. It opened up to a large space. The curtains were all open and the sun was filtering in a lot of light. The couch he'd helped to bring in sat facing a corner where a television sat. On the far wall was a small three shelf bookcase. It held three books, one photo and two vases with flowers in them. He followed Emily to the right, through a single door that sat open. It led to the kitchen and he nodded at the room. It was open and spacious with enough room to move around.

"Nice place."

"Thanks. I'm still working on it."

"Well, before you know it it'll look great."

Emily offered a short laugh and shrugged as she opened the fridge. "Yeah, hopefully."

She pulled out two beers and set one down in front of him, reached into a drawer and pulled out a bottle opener. Instantly he held his hand out, "Here, let me do that for you."

"Oh okay, sure." She handed it over to him and thanked him, took a sip and sighed. "How's the job?"

He nodded as he put his own beer down, "It's good. How's the arm?"

She shrugged and rolled her shoulder gently, "Stills hurts and the Doctor said that I should begin to do small things with it now." He nodded and pointed to the living room. She took the hint and followed him onto the couch.

Callen put the bag on the couch between the two of them and watched her simply stare at it. He pointed to it with his hand, "It's not going to bite."

"I don't know that."

He laughed and pushed the bag closer to her. "Just look inside it."

Emily handed him her bottle to hold for her and pulled the handles away and peered inside. After a moment she frowned and looked up at him. She put her hand into the bag and pulled out two books. Holding them up she looked at them with scrutiny, "_Lolita _and _Dune_?"

He shrugged. "Okay, so I may have looked at some of your books from before and took a guess at what you may have liked."

Emily smiled and put them on top of the bag, "Thank you. I appreciate it. It's a start on my new collection."

Callen laughed and passed her the beer back. "No problem." She moved the books onto the floor and shuffled until she sat settled against his side with his arm across her shoulders. They sat in a comfortable silence, sipping beer for the nest fifteen minutes. When he finished his beer he was almost certain that she'd fallen asleep against him. With a smile he leaned his head against the back of the couch and just closed his eyes.

He didn't know how long passed, but something had been niggling in his mind. He wanted to tell her properly about his life, well, about his job and how things may be different from now on. Gently he shook her awake and smiled down at her. "Enjoy your sleep?"

"Sorry."

He shook his head and leaned her up. "Can I talk to you?"

"Okay?"

He sighed and shifted until he was sat properly up with her sat up and facing him too. "I want to tell you about my job, about what I do as an NCIS agent and more about my family." Emily sat in silence with a nod and let him carry on. "I, I want you to know that my job comes with dangers and that there may be a day when, bad things happen."

"Like a bomb?"

The smirk on her face, a faint smirk with a slight pain to her eyes, let him know that she understood to some level. "I just want you to know that that could happen almost any day. I know that feeling a lot and if you don't want to experience that, I understand."

That comment made her frown ever so slightly. "Wha- what are you talking about?"

Callen sighed and considered withdrawing any and all comments. But he steamrolled through it. "Look, what I've said about my family," his mouth hung open for a moment before he continued on. "My Dad was a US agent who met my Mum in Romania." He stopped, a lump appearing in his throat and he blinked back the pain begging to spill forward in his eyes. "She, she was killed and-"

"Callen," Emily sat a hand on his knee, stopping any more words from his mouth. "You don't, you don't need to tell me right now. An- And I understand. My brother's in the Marines, my Dad used to be a Colonel in the Air Force. I- I don't want you to have to feel that you need to tell me everything right now. Only when you're ready."

It was a moment of two as he took in her words and shook his head, "I want to tell you. You deserve to know."

"You've said all you've needed to say," she told him with a soft smile. She placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb against it. "Callen, I'm happy knowing what I know. I know your job is dangerous and that it comes with its risks, what job with a gun doesn't? And-" she paused for a moment and Callen grabbed her hand with his and squeezed it.

She understood. She cared and didn't need to hear anymore. He couldn't help the slight giddiness that swelled inside of him.

It scared him. Ever so slightly that feeling scared him.

But he liked that feeling at the same time, enjoyed it.

With a wide grin he nodded and let out a nervous laugh. "Thank you."

She nodded and got to her feet, reached for his empty bottle and said, "Another one?"

He shook his head and followed her into the kitchen. Part of him felt a little lighter at the relief of telling her most of what he'd wanted to. It was that part of him that forced him to wrap one arm around her good arm, wrap the other around her waist, cup her cheek and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't a quick peck as all of their previous encounters had been, but a more deep and thorough kiss.

He pulled her against his body, almost refusing to let the kiss end as he deepened it, running a hand through her hair. When they finally came up for air a blush had set into her cheeks and he grinned down at her. She grinned back up at him and after a moment simply settled for nuzzling his neck with her nose. He settled for the same response, finding it a nice change from their previous encounter just moments ago.

"Stay the night."

That made him reel back. It felt almost like a sucker punch to his gut and he pulled his head away to look down at her. "What?"

She looked up then, a slight query on her face. "Please? Stay the night. Only if you want to."

"Em."

"Please. I- I haven't slept all that great since, you know."

"I-" he paused for a moment and he almost swore he could hear Sam call him a chicken in his mind. "Okay. I- I'll stay the night."

Emily wrapped her arms around him again and he was thankful for that. He was certain his heart was pounding and his eyes frowning in worry. This was certainly out of his comfort zone.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: **Okay, so as many of you know Callen's father is never mentioned in the show. Yes, from my last chapter this means a possible spin off fic wherein we find out who the man is and why/how Callen has never met him.

He put his bag down next to the couch, out of the way and took a seat on the couch. He was still wary of staying over, but she'd insisted, she hadn't been sleeping well. He'd already told her he was going to sleep on the couch, that he'd be comfortable if she would just hand in a spare blanket and a pillow.

Emily had nodded and placed them on the end of the couch. "I appreciate this Callen, honestly."

He nodded with a smile and started setting his temporary bed up. "It's no problem. As long as you get a good night's sleep, that's all that matters."

Emily smiled softly at him and nodded. "Thank you. Bathroom's the second door on the right, kitchen's right there. I'll just," she pointed a thumb over her shoulder, "Good night."

"Sleep well," he said, watching her turn and leave. He sat himself down with sigh and reached for his bag. From it, he pulled out a book and opened it to where he'd left it. At the sound of movement he lifted his head to see Emily flit from the bathroom back to her room, turning lights off as she went and closing the door behind herself.

Three hours later and he put his book down and pulled out his gun, deciding to pull it apart and put it back together. He checked each piece before putting it back. He repeated that three more times before deciding to catch a couple of hours sleep. Putting his gun underneath his pillow he changed into a pair of soft pants and a loose shirt before putting the lights out and putting his feet up.

When he woke up he checked his watch, it was half seven. Running his hands over his face he swung his feet over the side of the couch and grabbed his spare clothes out of his bag. He made his way into the bathroom, dressed and moved back into the living room.

He cleared his stuff away and checked his gun once more. After that he made himself a coffee, spared a glance in Emily's direction and picked his book back up. He admitted to himself that part of him enjoyed being in the same apartment as Emily, enjoyed being near her. But another part of him was scared. This was unknown territory to him. He had no idea what he was doing if what he was doing was the right thing to do.

He sighed.

He put his book away and stood, made his way towards the window and simply stared out of it. Emily had a nice view of the ocean from here and a nice view of the hills to his left. With his hands in his pockets he simply stood and stared. He couldn't help the curious glances he stole at rooftops, at the people already up and about on their phones, at parked cars. It was second nature to him.

A glance over his shoulder and he felt his stomach twist. This wasn't second nature to him, this thing with Emily. He wanted to call it a relationship, knew that that's what it was. But he couldn't quite say it yet. Didn't want to.

Another sigh escaped him and he turned on his feet and made himself another coffee. As he tested the heat with his mouth she appeared around the corner, dressed in a pair of loose pants and a loose shirt. "Sleep well?"

With a shrug and a smirk he kept his trained on her face. He didn't want to think about what sat beneath the fabric. "I did thank you. Coffee?"

Emily nodded, "Milk, one sugar. Thanks."

He looked her over for a brief second. He admitted, she did look better refreshed then how she looked when he appeared yesterday. "Sleep better?" She only nodded and hid a yawn behind her good hand. "Well good." His phone rang then and he shared a look with her before she shrugged her shoulders.

Pouring water into the cup he answered the phone to Sam. "Hey G, we got a body. Nell's going to text you the address."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

"Your job?" He nodded and Emily offered him a brief smile. "Okay, go, get going."

Callen smiled at her, grabbed his bag and kissed her cheek. "I'll come back later to see how you're doing."

"Only once you've caught the bad guys."

He smiled again and patted his pockets. His gun was still on the couch. He stepped over, attached the holder to his belt and opened the door. When he turned to say goodbye, Emily stood against the door holding her bad arm against her chest. "You, rest and relax."

"I will."

"You promise?"

She offered him a smirk. "Yes, I promise."

He studied her for a moment, just taking in the soft smirk she wore and the way she leaned against the door. "Okay. Good bye." She waved him off with a bye and closed the door behind him.

When he met Sam at the crime scene he was bombarded with silent questions. Sam could tell when Callen's normal routine had been interrupted and could see that now. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Sam questioned him in a single gaze and Callen sighed. "I- may have stayed the night."

"Oh G, I'm proud. You're starting to act like an adult." Callen glared at the man and Sam offered a short laugh. "Alright, I'm sorry. But, this is a good thing right?"

"I don't know, I only stayed on the couch."

"But you stayed at her house. For an entire night. That's something, especially for you."

Callen let his eyes wander to look over the Petty Officer's body in front of them. "Yeah well, for now, let's just talk about the job okay?"

"Alright, fine," Sam said holding his hands up.


	34. Chapter 34

The next few weeks passed with the same routine; Emily asking Callen to stay the night every few days and he, reluctantly in the first week, agreeing to stay. It had started to become a regular routine with Emily only needing to _ask_ he was going to stay. Pretty soon, she had bought a reasonably sized two drawer hamper basket set, big enough so that one drawer could fit the spare blanket and pillow in one drawer. She told him he could use the other drawer for whatever he wanted and pretty within three weeks of seeing the drawers, he'd been leaving a few sets of spare clothes.

Six months since the explosion in Emily's apartment had passed and Callen was feeling comfortable calling it a romantic relationship. True he was still sleeping on her couch, but he'd fallen into a habit of having coffee ready for her and some days he'd even make her breakfast. Since he got so little sleep he didn't know what else to do to pass the time.

It was four AM. He'd fallen asleep around midnight; after they'd watched a film and she'd fallen asleep against him, he'd then tried to rouse her but she was that far under he simply picked her up and carried her to her bed. He'd grabbed a thin blanket and draped it over her body, keeping a layer of warmth around her.

But it was four AM. He'd been up for an hour already; making coffee, taking his gun apart, cleaning it and putting it back together, when she walked in. Her hair was mused up and her clothes were askew. But she stood in the entrance between hallway and living room, almost glaring at him. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep."

She let out a yawn and shuffled her feet to sit next to him. The sling had come off her arm months ago and the bruises were gone, the cuts healed to nothing but a few tiny scars. Another yawn escaped her and she landed her head on his shoulder not too gently. "Liar."

He quirked a brow at her resting form. "I'm not a liar."

"Are too," she mumbled against his shoulder. After a moment she dragged her face out and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. "You were up last time at this hour, and the time before that, and the time before that."

He frowned now. He didn't know that she had woken up during those nights, that she'd heard him awake and moving about. "Em."

"Why are you always up?" It was a whine and a complaint, but he couldn't complain. Something about the combination of her irritation and her sleepiness only served to make him grin and stifle a soft, light chuckle.

"Because I don't sleep for long."

"Well maybe you should."

"I'm sorry it's just something I haven't done in a long time."

"So," she said. As he was trying to think up a response she got up and shuffled her way back into her bedroom. He watched, waiting for the door to close and the light to turn off. Instead, he heard more shuffling followed by her saying, "Callen? Come 'ere."

With a sigh, he ditched his book on the table and came to stand in the doorway. She stood in her pyjamas, eyes half closed and another yawn letting itself free. He quirked an eyebrow. She grabbed his arm, pulled him into the room and pulled him over to her bed. "Come here," she said, forcing him to lie down. She reached across him, turned the light out and lay with one arm slouched across his chest and her head resting on his arm. "Sleep." It was a command and he sighed. "Don't you sigh at me."

He smirked then and stared at her slumped form in the dark. "Em, just go to sleep okay?"

"You go to sleep," she mumbled.

"You go to sleep," he muttered back.

"You go to sleep then I'll go to sleep and we'll both be happy," she muttered, nuzzling her nose against his arm. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped him and he agreed, shuffling to find a more comfortable position. He'd learnt that it wasn't usually until seven AM before she appeared in the mornings, which meant he usually got dressed at around six thirty. So he was still in his own pyjamas.

After a few seconds of shuffling, he placed his hand over hers and closed his eyes. There was nothing wrong with using that time to think quietly to himself. The sudden stillness of the room and the quiet breathing of Emily beginning to nod off made him open his eyes. He was in her bed. Next to her.

And yet, it was comforting, her warm body pressed against his. It was a comfort to know that she couldn't get into much trouble if he was there next to her. It was a comfort because it just felt nice, it felt good to just lie there and sleep with no demands from the other.

That thought stuck a small smile on his face and he tilted his head to rest his cheek against her head. He closed his eyes and attempted to sleep; telling himself that trying to get a little more shut eye wasn't a crime.

And if it made her happy, it made him happy.

When they morning came he was surprised to find that he'd actually fallen asleep. But he was awake before her. Sometime in the night, she'd rolled over and curled up, facing away from him. He managed to slip out, get changed and had just finished making his cup of coffee when she walked in. He turned to face her and she immediately wrapped her arms around his chest. For a few seconds she nuzzled into him and he settled an arm around her. "Good morning to you too."

"You don't have to sleep on the couch any longer if you don't want to."

He nodded down at her as she tilted her head back. "Duly noted. Care to release me?"

"Nope."

He quirked his brow with a smirk. "Emily."

She rolled her eyes and released him, muttering a "Drama queen," as she pushed past him to reach for a bowl and a box of cereal. As he watched her make her breakfast and coffee and take them into the living room, he couldn't help the comforting feeling that sat in his gut. Is this what Sam felt when he first started living with his wife? Is that what everyone felt? For now, he pushed those thoughts aside and joined her on the couch, the TV already on and filling the background with noise.


	35. Chapter 35

It was two weeks later when he was up at four AM again. He'd slipped out of the bed and was pretty certain Emily was still asleep. But her appearance ten minutes later let him know that she'd woken up. "Again?" she muttered. Callen sighed and put down his gun. He opened his mouth to answer back but she waved him off and moved into the kitchen. "Do you ever stop playing with your gun?"

He laughed and picked it back up, "I just want to make sure it isn't going to jam on me."

"Uh huh," she muttered. He watched through the doorway as she brewed a coffee for herself.

"Emily, what are you doing?"

She yawned. "I. Am getting. Some coffee."

He stood up and moved to stand in the doorway of the kitchen, "You should go back to bed."

She shook her head and took a sip of her drink. "No, I'm erm, I'll keep you company."

"Emily."

Again she shook her head and stood in front of him. "It's fine. Besides, I have an interview for a job in a few hours." At his frown she shrugged with a yawn. "The paper couldn't keep my job open for me without knowing when I'd be back."

"It's four in the morning."

She shrugged again. "It'll give me chance to wake up."

Callen tried to take the coffee off her and guide her back to her room, but she refused and pushed past him towards the couch. "Emily, please. Go back to bed."

He followed as she sat herself down onto the couch and looked over the various parts of his gun. "Is this all that you do then?"

With a sigh he sat down next to her and shook his head. "Nope." Within sixty seconds he put the gun back together and placed it down on the table in front of him. He caught her yawning and offered her a small smile. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed? You look like you need it."

She shook her head and nudged her shoulder into his. "No I'm good." She yawned and Callen gave her a stern stare. She glared back at him and continued her drink. "I'm good."

He looked at her for a few moments, simply watching her and waiting for the moment she would fall asleep. "So, what are you doing?"

Emily shrugged and placed her cup down to reach for a book she'd put down before. Tucking her feet up onto the couch she opened the bug and started reading, coffee perched in one hand the other awkwardly holding the book. He opened his mouth to once more, ask her to get back to bed but she only resorted to tucking her feet underneath his leg and carry on reading, a determined look on her face.

He sighed, instigating her to say, "Don't you sigh at me." He looked up to see she was smirking behind her book and smirked back to her.

"Are you comfortable there?"

"Very."

They were silent for a moment before he pointed to the book on the floor by her side, "Can you?" She handed it to him and he leaned back into the couch, her feet still underneath him, and simply read. Several chapters later, when he was three quarters through his book, he looked up to see her eyes wide awake and reading the page. 'Huh,' he thought to himself with a faint smile.

Going back to his book he continued. It was several minutes later when she suddenly moved that he looked at his watch. It was seven AM now. "Can you make the coffee?" he heard from her bedroom and he closed the book and got up.

"Sure thing. What time's your interview?"

"Nine, I'm, I'm leaving at half eight." He nodded, listening to her voice from the other room and made two cups of coffee, one for him and one for her. Light footsteps made him aware she was behind him. He became even more aware of her when she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind.

He gave a short laugh and turned to face her, leaning back against the counter. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, brown eyes alight, "Pretty good actually. I didn't think I'd be awake but, I am."

He put his arms around her shoulders and held her there. "The only reason I don't sleep so well is because of years of having little time for. I've grown accustomed to it I guess."

"Fair enough," she said. Emily stood on her tip toes to peck his lip and reached around him to grab her cup. "I'm going to have this then grab a shower. What time of you have to leave?"

Callen joined her back on the couch with his own cup as she turned the TV on. "Well, I don't start until work so unless I get a phone call, I'm all yours until then."

"Oh good," she leaned her back against his side, a regular position in the mornings, and he placed his free arm around her. "Means we can just relax." He smiled at that thought and watched the news that she'd put on.

The next hour was spent with them grabbing food, more coffee, showers and getting dressed before they each left. As Emily was starting to lock up she stopped, remembered something went back in and came back out locking the door behind her. She turned to Callen and held her hand out. With a curious gaze, he held his hand out. A frown grew and he looked at the key in his hand. "I figured you could do with your own key in case I'm ever out when you want to pop in."

"Emily," he said. But stopped. He didn't know what to say. A lump formed in his throat, his stomach twisted but he nodded his head, tucked the key away into his pocket and followed her to the car park and climbed into his car, only asking if she needed a lift to which she said no.

When he got to work that morning, Sam took a seat on the corner of his desk and asked, "Okay, what happened?" It was a moment before Callen responded. He withdrew the key from his pocket and held it for Sam to see. The man only smiled with a short laugh, "Ah, she gave you a key. That's a good thing, you realise that?"

"I know," he managed to get out. "I just, I-" he shrugged his shoulders and put the key back into his pocket. "I don't know."

Sam stood and patted his back. "You'll figure it out."


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: I apologise for the long wait. I realise it's been a few days and I am TERRIBLY sorry! **

"Hey Callen."

"Yes Emily?"

There was a pause before she said, "Erm, my parents are throwing a party for my sister's birthday and I'm allowed to bring a friend." He snapped his eyes in her direction, her ducked head focused on the book in her hand. After a moment she perked her head up and offered him a meek smile. "You're welcome to come. If, you know, you want to."

Callen simply stared. He didn't know what to say. "Emily."

"Look," she said, "You don't have to if you don't want to I mean, I know that we're not exactly a public thing, which I'm fine with by the way."

Callen held a hand up to stop her and said, "Em, hold on." She clamped her mouth shut and he paused a moment. He had no idea what he wanted to say, what he was going to say, but he decided to push on through. "I-" he stopped. He needed to think for a moment, but his mind was screaming for him to not go with her. "I appreciate that we're not public, and I appreciate you being okay with that. Really. It's just that-" he stopped again and sighed, running a hand over his face. Hetty's words about being honest echoed in his mind and he turned to her, "I've never really done the whole 'boyfriend' thing." That word felt weird to him, twisted something inside of him.

"Wh- what? You've never?"

"Not really that kind of guy."

"So," Emily just pointed between the two of them.

Callen shook his head. "This is all new territory for me, but, it's real. I can tell you that."

It was a moment before she nodded, "Okay."

Callen felt the air shift atmosphere and felt his eyes widen. "Emily, I mean it. I do like you, a lot and I wouldn't want to change anything that's happened. I swear."

A smile started to twist her mouth up and he smiled back. They stared at each other with small smiles for a few moments before she put her book down on the couch arm and tucked her feet up to lean against his side, dragging his arm around her shoulders. "How about, instead, we throw our own small party, just you and me?"

Callen laughed and tugged her closer. He gulped the awkward lump that had formed in his throat and placed a small kiss to the top of her head. "Look, I'll go."

"If it makes you uncomfortable you don't have to."

Callen waved his hand in front of her, "I don't have to but I want to. For you."

Emily tilted her head back to smirk up at him. "Considering you don't do this often, you're not half bad with this boyfriend thing." She turned away from him and tucked herself further into his side.

"I have a patient girlfriend."

Emily lifted her head to smirk up at him and shrugged. "Sometimes slow's good. Besides, I really like you too."

"That's good to know," Callen said with a smirk, settling down as she settled down herself. They sat in silence for minutes, content with each other's company before he turned his head to face her; "I'll come with you by the way. I mean, it has been what, eight months. I figure your parents deserve to meet me."

"I thought they already did."

"Probably and not because you're in the hospital or because of a case. It's the thing boyfriends do right? See their girlfriends parents?"

"Yeah it is, but only if you want to."

"I do want to."

"Okay then."

"Okay."

He didn't realise the party was in a week and when it arrived he felt his stomach twist into knots. He'd agreed to drive them out to her parents' house and had agreed to let her pick the present. When they pulled up to the house, his hands refused to move from the steering wheel as he considered backing out. Emily laid a hand on his arm with a soft smile and said, "You really don't have to come in."

It took him a moment to reply and he shared a look with her before muttering a small "It's fine." He took a breath and smiled. "Let's do it."

She offered him a quirked brow and shrugged, "Okay. If you're sure."

Callen smirked at her and as if to make a point climbed out of the car and waited for her. Emily smirked back up at him and stood next to him, "Well, let's go," he said. His stomach was doing flips, twisting itself into his throat and trying to pull him away. He did his best to ignore it and told himself it was a perfectly normal response to meeting somebody's parents.

When they reached the door, Emily knocked and waited. It was her father that answered and that made him lift his head and straighten his shoulders out. The man checked him out, head to toe and Callen offered the man a stern gaze. "Dad," Emily said, a warning tone in her voice.

"Come in," her Dad said, now turning his gaze to Emily. "I'm glad you made it."

Callen watched as the two hugged and was sure he heard her whisper something along the lines of "Play nice." He kept that thought in mind as he followed them inside, a slight glare in Mr Weston's face as he passed.


	37. Chapter 37

He should've guessed that her father would hold some expectations of him, hell he knew what Sam had gone through to get his wife's father's approval. Although, he suspected that being a SEAL was a great starting point for the man.

Him? He didn't even have a name. That made a thought cross his mind; how was he going to explain that one to him? To any of the family? And the fact that he didn't have any family. He let out a sigh and watched as Emily was bustled into the living room.

'Great,' he thought as her father hung back. They were alone and he offered the man a stern stare. Emily had mentioned that the man used to be a Colonel and had retired. With a firm nod Callen said, "Sir."

"Callen right?"

"That's right."

"One second mum," Emily's appearance in the doorway was a life boat as she smiled from him to her father. "Hey Dad, this is Agent Callen. Callen, this is my Dad Thomas."

With a kind smile Callen held a hand out, "Nice to meet you Sir and can I say you have a lovely daughter."

The man offered a little twitch to his lips. "Well as long as I know she's being looked after."

"I am," Emily interrupted, but neither man withdrew their gaze. Callen held it a moment longer, retaking his hand back and placing it by his side. "The party's in here by the way." He turned his gaze then and nodded, a soft touch tracing a smile on his face.

"What are we waiting for," he turned his attention back to Thomas and waved towards the door, "After you Sir?"

There was a brief pause between the two men before Thomas nodded his head and advanced through the door first. Callen sighed when the man left his vision. This was going to be a long night. "Feel free to ignore him," Emily told him. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, telling him that he didn't belong here in her world. He forced those thoughts to the side as she took his hand in hers and gently tugged him behind her. "Anytime you want to leave, just let me know. Okay?"

Now she turned and looked up at him with a generous smile. Callen couldn't help the warm smile on his face and nodded his head. "Of course."

As introductions were made he was fully aware of faint whispers that were being carried around the room. There were even a few blatant points in his direction. He was thankful it was a small gathering and to save the awkwardness of having no first name, both he and Emily had decided to keep it as Agent Callen. If anyone asked about his first name he simply shrugged and moved onto a different subject.

When he'd met her mother, Elaine, she'd passed a comment that made him choke on his drink and almost made him blush; "Well he's certainly a charmer. I'm sure he's got the package to go with it." The last comment was meant to be a whisper to Emily, which definitely made her blush.

Her sister said something along the same lines and when they walked away Callen was smirking, "If my family try to steal you away from me I'll kill you."

"Me? It isn't my fault."

"No, but it'll stop us arguing over you and falling out." The smirk she offered him only made him laugh and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Tonight, he felt himself straying not too far away from Emily. It was one place he felt comfortable; near her.

"What if I refuse to run away? Does that make it better?"

"A little."

Next up was her brother and the guy merely stuck out a hand with a smile and said, "Keep an eye on her, she bites." He'd laughed at that and followed Emily towards the buffet table to grab a bite to eat.

As the evening progressed he felt his stomach begin to relax. It was settling down just a little, but Thomas' appearance twisted it again. He glanced over towards Emily on the other side of the room and back to Thomas with a smile. "Sir."

The man nodded to him and nodded his gaze towards Emily across the room. "So how'd you two meet?"

Callen mentally tried to figure out where this conversation would go. "Coffee shop. She spilt coffee on me."

That made the man quirk a brow. There was a moment of silence between them before Thomas opened his mouth, "Agent Callen huh? First name?"

The cogs in his head stopped momentarily. _First name. First name. First name._ It went blank. What could he say? As he opened his mouth he felt his phone vibrate. With a 'sorry' smile he took his phone out and glance at the caller ID. It was Sam. "I have to take this."

The man waved an arm at him, "By all means."

Callen stepped away and answered the call, "Is there a case?"

"Yeah, Petty Officer found drowned in the River just a few hours ago. Nell's texting you the address soon."

"I'll meet you there then." He hung up and turned around to face Thomas. With a sigh he stepped towards the man. "I'm sorry, that was work. Something's come up and I have to go."

Thomas merely looked at him for a few silent moments before nodding. "Okay. You have a job to do and I appreciate that. You best get going then."

Callen nodded and retreated to find Emily. "I'm sorry but I have to go, work."

She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll leave too."

He waved her off, "You stay."

"Meh," she said. He looked at her and tilted his head with a smirk before she agreed. "Fine," she stepped closer to him and pecked his mouth with hers. "Go catch 'em. I'll grab a cab later."

"You tell me when you're back." She smirked and gently laid a hand on his cheek. "I will. Now go, go catch the bad guys. I'll see you tomorrow."

When Callen met Sam he was given a quirk of the brows. "Where were you at? Sounded like a party?"

He sighed and stepped closed to the crime scene. "Emily's sister's birthday."

"Ah, met the family did you?" Callen spared him a grimace and Sam's smirk slid away. "Okay, okay. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think it was."

"Sam, I met her family. That's, that's something I don't do."

"Neither is calling a girl up or staying the night with her." Callen sighed and focused on the crime scene. "Look, just, carry on taking it slow like you guys already are. Besides, she's not pushing you is she?"

He nodded his head towards Sam, "That is a point Sam. That is a point."


	38. Chapter 38

_Emily POV_

She sighed as Callen left, a content smile on her face. He'd put himself out there to come to the party with her, that in itself was enough to keep a smile on her face for the rest of the night. "So when are you two going to get married?" She choked on her drink and stared, wide eyed at the person who'd suggested it.

"Excuse me?"

It was one of her sister's friends, someone who she should've remembered the name of but couldn't quite recall it; Sandra? Sally? "You're telling me he hasn't proposed?"

"No," She said it almost in anger but managed to keep her voice low. She didn't expect him to propose, now, next week, next month or next year. Hell ever. "No he hasn't."

She was glad that Callen wasn't around anymore, that he didn't have to listen to the conversation taking place about what the 'perfect' wedding would include. As the group of girls got caught up in the conversation she managed to slip away. That was one conversation she wasn't interested in taking part in soon.

She found herself by the drinks table and her Dad appeared by her side, "I like him. He seems honest." She bit her tongue to stop the laugh. Their friendship had started off with lies and from what she'd managed to gather about his job was that it involved a lot of lying too. "Does he treat you right?"

Emily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Dad, come on," the same conversation took place whenever she or her sister had gotten a date. Twenty years ago and he would've looked a lot more imposing in his uniform, armed with a gun by his side.

"I just want to know what you like about him? I mean, I don't even know the man's first name."

Ducking her head her mind worked three times as fast to come up with an answer. She couldn't, at least not one she wasn't too sure Callen would be happy about. She needed to dance around the topic. "Most mornings I wake up and coffee is ready for me. He puts the toilet seat down. He'll probably call to check that I made it home okay. He looks out for me."

Lifting her head she was caught by her dad's gaze, analysing what she'd just said in his mind. "He sounds like a decent man."

"He is, so there's no need to interrogate him."

"You know I only do that to look out for you."

"And sometimes it's unnecessary."

"You'll thank me one day." She looked up at the smirk on his face and let her own smirk spread. "Enjoy the rest of the night."

"I will," she said, grabbing herself a fresh drink and meandering over to her brother.

_Callen POV_

They were going over some of the footage when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Stepping outside he answered it, "You make it back okay?"

"Yep."

The chirpiness in her voice made him smirk, a nice change to the case they were on. "Do I want to know how much you had to drink?"

"Enough."

A short laugh and he sobered up. "Get yourself to bed. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Gotcha."

The line went dead and he shook his head with a smirk. He tucked his phone away, sobered his face and went back into Ops. "Got it," Eric said.

"Sending address to your phones."

Callen turned and followed Sam to the car; a quiet walk that he knew would result in questions when they got into the vehicle. "Her Dad's ex-military right?"

He sighed and turned his head in Sam's direction. "Yes. And yes, he was questioning me, which I know is a natural thing for a father to do."

"I was just asking," Sam said with a shrug.

"Uh huh."

"Okay, so, what'd he have to say?"

Now he turned his attention to the window. "Just how we met and what my name was."

"What did you say?"

Callen shook his head. "I didn't say anything. You called me at that moment."

Sam offered him a brief look before turning his gaze back to the traffic. "He's going to want to know. And soon."

"What am I supposed to say? I have no name? and why? Because my mother was killed in front of me?"

"Okay, okay, look, just," there was a pause before Sam sighed. "I don't know man. Why'd you have to have no birth certificate? Damn."

"Come on Sam, I need your help with this one."

"I don't know what to say G because I've never met somebody with this kind of problem before." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sam said, "Ask Hetty. She might know."

Callen offered the man a glare before sighing and remaining silent for the rest of the trip to the address on their phones. A couple hours later as they were all getting ready to head home, Callen took a few moments to stare over at Hetty's desk, Sam's opinion still in his mind. With a sigh he packed the rest of his stuff, bid goodnight to Sam, Kensi, Deeks, Eric and Nell and worked his way over to the smaller woman's desk. She was busy typing away on her computer, eyes fixed to the screen, "What can I do for you Mr Callen?"

He hesitated before opening his mouth, "How do I tell somebody I have no name?"

The woman turned her head away from the screen and looked up at him. "Am I to assume you took the next step in your relationship and met her family?" He half shrugged his shoulders with a faint nod. "Well Mr Callen my opinion would be to tell them just that."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you could explain that you were an orphan that was left with just an initial. The reasons as to how that happened aren't overly important now are they?"

Callen opened and closed his mouth a few times. It was a simple answer yet it was something that hadn't crossed his mind. He offered her a frown and nodded slowly. "O-kay." Half turned he twisted his head back to say, "Thanks," before grabbing his bag and leaving the building.

When he reached Emily's apartment he quietly closed the door behind him, locked it and placed his keys on the small table by the door. He dropped his bag in the living room and turned on a lamp. The rest of the apartment was silent and he silently traced a line to Emily's bedroom. It was open slightly and he pushed it further open until he saw her wrapped up in her duvet and fast asleep.

A smile crawled onto his face and he quickly changed and climbed into bed next to her. Even whilst asleep she seemed aware of her surroundings as she rolled over and wrapped one arm across his chest and nuzzled the hollow in his neck. The smile grew and he kissed the top of her head and settled into a comfortable sleep.


	39. Chapter 39

When morning arrived Emily groaned. She buried her head into the warmth and pulled it closer to herself. "Mmnf," she muttered. She'd forgotten how much she drank and a sudden memory of her father asking her about what she liked about Callen. "Shit," she muttered.

"Well good morning to you too."

She opened her eyes and lifted her head to sleepily stare at Callen's smirking face. "Morning."

There was a moment of silence as they looked at one another before he said with a quirked brow, "Something wrong?"

She looked up at him for another moment before shaking her head. "No. Just remembering something my Dad said."

"Something bad I take it?"

What she had said to her father recalled itself to her mind and she scolded herself. Coffee? Calls? They were a few of the things that made him even better. The thing she liked the most about him? His honesty about himself; his past, his name, his family, his job and about him. "Not really."

"So the bad mood?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

She decided to change topic, "You stayed the entire night? In one spot?"

He offered her a playful glare and pulled himself up onto his elbow. "I thought you would approve."

Emily tucked an elbow beneath herself and smirked up at him. "I do approve. I just find it… odd."

"Odd?"

"Odd."

He stared at her for a moment before shrugging and moving to get out of bed. "Did I miss much?"

_Only everyone asking all of the questions about you._ "Nope. Nothing much happened once you left."

"Uh huh," he stepped towards the door and pointed at it. "You need bathroom?"

She shook her head and watched him leave. When she heard the bathroom door close she fell onto her bed and sighed heavily. In a low voice she said, "Do I?" Throughout their entire conversation she'd had trouble not looking away. The low heat in the belly of her stomach was twisting her in many ways. But it wasn't just a lusting for Callen. It was… it was something more? She sighed again and twisted over into her pillow. "Do I love him?" she muttered into the pillow with a sigh.

_Callen POV_

He left half an hour later, their case from last night was still waiting their attention. When he arrived at Ops that morning he found everyone circled around the screen just inside the pen. "What's going on?"

Kensi turned the volume up and he watched as men in ski masks with an Islamic flag in the background spoke about the end of the US providing arms and power to the rest of the world. "Is Eric trying to trace this."

Deeks nodded. "Yeah but he says it's routed through several satellites and is being bounced constantly. He can't get a fix on the signal's original point."

"How long has this been going for?"

Sam shook his head, "For the past hour at least. It's on every news channel and on a loop."

"Where are we on the Petty Officer's murder?"

"Well," Kensi said turning the news off. "According to some of his buddies he was last seen leaving a bar with a girl; here she is." On the screen appeared the image of a brown haired blue eyed pretty woman. "Nell and Eric are running her face through DMV hopefully we should get a hit soon."

"This guy," Sam said with a slight nod to Kensi. She nodded back, tapped a button and on the screen appeared another Petty Officer. "Didn't turn up this morning at work but he and Petty Officer Lawson were working on something together just days before Lawson was found dead."

Callen frowned. "Do we know what it was that they were working on?"

Deeks took a hissing breath, "No we don't. We're being stone walled."

"Alright," Callen said. "Kensi and Deeks, when you have an address, find out who that woman is and what she knows. Sam, you and I will go talk to whoever gave these two Petty Officer's this secret job."

It was a comfortable ten minute drive before they reached the base the Officers had been stationed at. When they reached it the front gates were locked and the armed officer's at the front was a sign that the base was on lockdown. Badges out and ready they approached the men at the front gates and held their badges up. "Federal Agents," Sam said. "What's going on?"

"The entire base is on lockdown, nobody's allowed in or out," said one of the men.

Callen looked towards the base and noticed none of the windows and doors were open. "Why?" He noticed the guards share a look with one another and he stepped forward, frown on his face, "Don't lie to us and don't feed us a cover story. What is going on?"

"There was a chemical attack."

They shared a look with one another. "Chemical?" Sam asked.

"The CDC are on their way. Somebody had placed an airborne sample of a chemical into the air ducts. Once the fans turned on well, we don't know how far the chemical spread but we locked it down as soon as the alarm went off."

"You've no idea what it is?"

"None at all."

"Damn," Sam said, turning and walking away. He pulled his phone out and called Eric, "Eric, I need you to keep an eye out on CDC's latest cases. An entire Naval base is on lockdown because of an airborne chemical."

"An entire base?"

"Yeah. Look, keep us posted." He hung up, put his phone away and turned to Callen with a sigh. His look said all that needed to be said.

"You got the Sergeant's number?"

Sam smirked and within a few moments they were on the line to Sergeant Wilson. After repeatedly asking and demanding to know what the classified case was that Lawson and the other Petty Officer were working on, they finally got the answers they wanted. The two Officers were working on an estimated spread rate of airborne fatal pathogens and the estimated number of people to become affected. They also worked out a case to cause the most fatalities with as little pathogens as possible; military bases, malls and train stations.

When they asked about the places in particular that were 'good' targets for anyone wanting to try to cripple the US, the naval base that they were stood in front of was one of the main targets. Another was a shopping mall just a few hundred yards down the road. Callen shared another look with Sam. When they enquired about said pathogen the Sergeant coughed and muttered anthrax. The next few minutes became Sam and Callen guessing that Petty Officer Taylor had possibly taken a few samples of anthrax and had decided that the US's weaknesses needed exploiting. Apparently Wilson had found several 'cause for concern' articles in the Officer's locker.

They shared another look with one another and thanked the man for his time and hung up on him. Their next plan of action was to go to the mall that the two Officers had mentioned and see if they could find Taylor himself.

"Kensi, Deeks," Callen said over the phone to them. "We think Petty Officer Taylor's taken a couple of anthrax samples and is going to use them on the public, we'll send you the address to meet us at."

"I sure as hell hope we make it in time," Sam said as they climbed into the car and headed off towards the Mall.


	40. Chapter 40

They arrived and gathered outside the doors to the building. Their plan of action was to have the security guards man the exits with pictures of the Officer. They agreed to work from the top down in hopes that four sets of eyes wouldn't miss Petty Officer Taylor. As they stepped off the escalator for the second floor Kensi pointed out the guy who'd stepped into the maintenance room. "Alright," Callen said, "Kensi, Deeks, cover us, Sam." He nodded to the door and Sam followed behind him.

When they reached the door Sam pushed it open and entered first. Callen followed and Kensi and Deeks followed behind him. They formed a line and swept the room at a regular pace to one another. There were a few bangs and all four of them shared a look with one another.

Kensi and Deeks hurried forward and checked the corners whilst Sam and Callen checked the other side of the room. There were a few held silences as the team moved further into the room.

"Don't step any closer."

All four of them raised their guns in the general direction of the voice. "Federal Agents," Kensi called. "Taylor! Come on out!"

"The government needs to know our defences are weak, that there's plenty they could do to improve it!"

"Is this guy for real?" Deeks commented with a smirk. "Look! They already know! You did a good job of that with the Naval base!"

"That was just a test! When this spreads to everyone here, they'll see how easy it is for our defences to be exploited!"

"Taylor!" Sam called turned the corner to find the tall man bent near to the air vents. "Don't do it man. There's a lot of innocent women and children down there. You're telling me you're willing to risk their lives just to prove a point?"

Taylor pointed a vial of white powder towards the air vent. "It's the quickest way to get the message across."

"Taylor!" It was Kensi's turn to try to convince the man to put the vial of anthrax down. "Do that and you'll be seeing nothing from behind bars for the rest of your life. You think they'll reward you for this? They won't! You'll be branded as a terrorist for the rest of your life."

There was a slight hesitation in the man's voice before he spoke, "Then so be it."

Callen, throughout the argument, had been sneaking along the walls trying to get close enough to stop the man without the need of bullets. When Taylor spoke those four words he stepped around the corner, reached a hand out to the vial and jumped the man, pressing him to the ground. Sam, Kensi and Deeks all stepped forward, putting their guns away. Callen handed the still closed vial to Sam and pulled out his cuffs. "Come on Taylor, time to spend a lot of time behind bars."

Kensi and Deeks grabbed the bag that Taylor had brought with him. "Wow," Deeks said. "Thousand grand, cash."

"Yeah well, you won't get to spend any of it."

"Shame, I had a new surf board I had my eyes set on."

Kensi rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag from Deeks herself to hand into evidence when they arrived back at Ops. Callen passed Taylor off to one of the local police officers and nodded to Sam with smile. "Looks like we did okay."

"Yeah, so you and Emily."

Callen offered the man a look. "What about us?"

Sam shared a look back and shook his head. "Never mind."

"Okay, now I'm interested."

"Well, has she said it yet?"

Callen frowned. "Said what?"

Sam laughed as they climbed into their car. "You've been dating what, like eight months now?"

"Something like that yeah, so?"

"So, girls are usually the first to jump on the 'love' band wagon. I'm just asking if Emily's said it yet."

Callen stared at Sam for a few silent moments. Love? That was one word he thought he'd never say and now Sam was telling him that Emily most probably loved him. That thought twisted his stomach. Did he like that idea? Of someone loving him? Of being loved? What about loving her back? Did he? Did he love her? Part of his mind screamed no, that it wouldn't happen, that it couldn't. But another part told him to just think about it. Really think about it.

"She hasn't."

"Okay, well, what about you?"

He remained silent, content to just let the silence fill the space. Sam could draw whatever conclusion he wanted to from it because he himself sure as hell couldn't quite decide on the truth just yet. When they pulled up Callen told Sam he'd be inside in just a few minutes. When Sam left, he pulled his phone out and dialled Emily's number. "Hey, Em, what are doing later on?"

"Mm, nothing much, just a walk on the beach after work, why?"

It took him a moment and Emily beckoning him to speak before he said, "Just wondering. I'll meet you there if that's alright with you?"

"Yeah sure. See you then."

He sighed when he hung up. A heavy sigh. The conversation he'd had with Sam was still in his mind, repeating itself and he couldn't explain to himself which answer made more sense. Did he or didn't he love Emily? With a sigh, he turned into the office and sat at his desk. He loaded the computer up and sat, just staring at the screen for several minutes. The rest of his day at work went by with his heart thundering the closer it got to clocking off. Every few minutes after typing up reports he'd simply stare at the screen and think, shake his head and go back to typing before staring once more.

When the time came to finally clock off he did it slowly, almost as if he was trying to waste as much time as possible before meeting Emily. With a sigh as he zipped up his bag, he hauled it onto his shoulder, stepped out into the parking lot and climbed into his car. Another sigh escaped him and he decided to force himself to get over Sam's conversation. He'd agreed to meet her and he would do just that.

When he pulled up to the beach it took him a few minutes of scanning the sand to find her, but she was sat on the sand, her shoes off and her suit jacket underneath her. Since she'd gotten a job at a different newspaper and the uniform was smart dress. A smile formed on his face and when he reached her, instead of sitting by her side like normal, he took a seat behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Hey," he said, placing a soft kiss to her cheek.

She leaned back into him and looked up. "Hey yourself. Good day at work?"

"We caught the bad guy, filled out reports. The usual."

Emily chuckled and wrapped her arms around his. Callen's stomach gave a flutter. This position that they were in, him wrapped around her so casually, was one that he enjoyed and thoroughly ,liked. Part of him was finally getting used to the idea of being labelled a boyfriend and labelling Emily his girlfriend. "Hey Callen."

Her words interrupted his chain of thought and he pulled his head back to look down at her, "Hmm?"

She looked up, brown eyes bright and smile wide and true. "I love you."

Those three words made him smile, but twisted his stomach into an awkward knot. With a nod and a wide smile he kissed her lips and said, "Me too."

_The End?_


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: So some of you have been asking for an epilogue. I present to you, said epilogue.**

A month passed after Emily had told Callen she'd loved him. They were relaxing in her apartment, her typing at her laptop, trying to get a small column finished for the next day's print, him reading a book when she asked him. "You want to move in?"

He lifted his gaze to stare at the wall opposite for a few moments, his brain working in overtime, trying to figure out something to reply with. The most his mind could come up with was, "What?"

It was now that he turned his head to look at her, trying to keep the shock out of his face. She peered up at him innocently with a hint of a small smile beginning to grow, "Well, you're here every other day and there's a good deal of your stuff here. I mean, I don't see a problem with it and it is entirely up to you."

The next few minutes were spent in silence as he kept his gaze fixed on hers whilst he debated internally with himself. She had good points, half of his stuff was already here in the apartment and his car did live outside in the parking lot half the week. Part of him knew it was a big commitment to move in with her, to actually live with her, sleep next to her every night, wake up every morning next to her.

But, he felt comfortable with the idea of it, of being with Emily on those nights and those mornings. Emily made a face at him and turned back to her laptop, "Like I said, if you don't want to, you don't hav-"

"I want to," he pushed forward, capturing her gaze once more. She stared at him, the smile returning to the corners of her mouth. "I," he nodded with a faint smile, "I would like to move in with you."

She frowned at him, "You, you're not just saying that are you?"

Callen waved a hand at her and shook his head. "I mean it. I do want to move in with you."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"So," she said after a moment.

Callen smirked and said, "So."

They shared a look for a moment before Emily uttered a small laugh and kicked her feet out to sit them on top of his legs. "Feel free to bring the rest of your stuff whenever."

"Will do," he said, leaning his arms on top of her legs and continuing to read his book.

It took all of three days for the rest of his stuff to appear, to which Emily was shocked by how little stuff he brought with him. But she held her tongue, shrugged her shoulders and pointed towards a set of drawers in the bedroom, a second set that sat next to hers.

Two months later a nasty case had caused the tension to rise at Ops and the temperature to drop through fear and worry. A guy was taking it into his hands to create mass panic through the video streamed executions of six Naval men and seven Marines, all who had supposedly committed crimes against humanity. The videos had hit the mainstream and the man in the mask, was threatening to attack members of the public next who had committed crimes against humanity. When that threat had hit the web, four more military men had been killed.

Everybody had been on the edge of their seats for days, tracking everything to try to find the guy. Overall, it had taken almost two weeks to find and kill the man with the risk of almost-death to everyone on the team.

That night, Callen left to head off with one specific task in mind.

To simply hold Emily.

It was way past midnight when he got in and he dumped his bag and jacket on the couch, shed his shoes and jeans and quietly stepped towards the bedroom. Quietly, he pulled the cover back, slipped in behind her, wrapped an arm around her and put the cover back. He pulled her tight against his chest and just inhaled the smell that was her. The words fell from his mouth before he could think. They fell knowing that she was safe, that she was a safety net against his job, that she was the anchor that held him down after such a terrible job.

"I love you."

When his mind realised what he'd said he simply repeated the phrase, feeling the warmth of it well up in his stomach and begin to bubble up into his chest. He let that feeling settle in and lull him into a deep sleep against her side. It was in the morning, when he'd remained next to her, simply watching her. He waited until she was awake before repeating those three words. "I love you."

She'd smiled, and repeated it back to him, capturing his mouth in a long, deep, drawn out kiss. That kiss had led to hands pulling the other closer and then those same hands had wondered. That morning, they were both late to work with a grin on their face.

Callen was happy to say that he thoroughly enjoyed having a somewhat normal life. Especially one that involved Emily accepting some of the things he kept to himself and some of the weird habits that he had. He didn't admit it to anyone, but deep inside, he knew that he could spend a long time in this happy state with Emily.


End file.
